Ride
by Fabulous Cars Crazy Fudge
Summary: When Lightning McQueen's twelve-year-old human cheerleader and sister figure, Fudge, is critically injured in an accident that (he thinks) was all his fault, the race car is at a loss for how to help her. And there are a LOT more surprises along the way. Prequel to Fudge in Cars 3. WARNING: Pretty sad stuff. Rated T for themes and implied swearing (asterisked out)
1. Happy New Year!

**So, I've been talking about it for a quite a while (and probably made you all annoyed at me!) and here it is! *Fanfare* My brand new original story,** ** _Ride_** **, is here!**

 **I still don't have everything figured out for this story just yet and so, requests/suggestions are still currently welcome. And I can't guarantee it's gonna be great. The main reason I'm writing this is so you understand a couple of things when I put Fudge in** ** _Cars 3_.** **If you don't know who Fudge is, I highly recommend reading my stories,** ** _Life Could Be a Dream_** **and** ** _When Life Gives You Lemons_** **before reading this one.**

 **This story takes place about a year and a half after** ** _Cars_** ** _2_** **and about a week after the** ** _Tales From Radiator Springs_** **story,** ** _Home for Christmas_** **, which makes Fudge twelve years old in this one. (Due to a conflicting timeline with this story, I have decided to make** ** _Vacation Crashers_** **an AU story, but I'll leave it up for those of you who enjoyed it.) I'm also trying to include some symbolism in the story, so if you're interested in that, pay very close attention to how I describe the weather at certain points throughout the story.**

 **Warning: This story is rated T for themes and the occasional implied swearing, which will be asterisked out like in my other stories. It's gonna be a pretty sad story (if I can get the emotion right) and boy, are you in for a... ****_ride_** **! *Chuckles sheepishly* I'll let myself out. Anywho, just thought I'd give you a heads-up.**

 **Disclaimer** **: I regret to inform you that I do not own** ** _Cars_** **. All recognisable car-acters belong to Disney/Pixar. Fudge belongs to me as well as any other human characters (except for one, which I'll get to) or vehicles you don't recognise from any of the movies.**

 **Now, without further ado, please enjoy...**

 **Ride**

 **Chapter 1- Happy New Year**

"Hey, Fudge, come on!" Lightning McQueen called out in an attempt to be heard over the loud music, cheering crowd and constant whine of party blowers that could be heard coming from inside Flo's V8 Café. "Countdown's about to start!"

"Coming!" Twelve-year-old Brittney "Fudge" Rossi-Topolino leapt to her feet and joined Lightning at the entrance to Flo's. "It got really loud in there!" she explained. Fudge was autistic and didn't enjoy too much noise and chaos.

"What?!" Lightning shouted.

"I said it was too loud in there!"

" _What_?!" the stock car repeated.

"I said-" Fudge began.

Lightning couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. Fudge gave a pout as she tried to look annoyed, but couldn't stop a small grin from pasting itself across her face.

"I hate you!" she declared.

McQueen ruffled her curly, dark brown hair affectionately. "I'm sorry, Fudge-O", he informed her, laughing, "but that was pretty funny!"

"I'll get you back!" she vowed, trying to look angry.

It was December thirty-first 2012. Midnight was just two minutes away. Of course, the townsfolk of Radiator Springs were throwing a huge party to celebrate the New Year. All thirteen of the town's residents got together for the occasion. This was the third year that Fudge had been allowed to stay up for the party. Until New Years Eve 2010, she attended the party, but either still had to go to bed at her usual bedtime or she fell asleep before midnight. A bunch of visitors were there too, including Francesco Bernoulli, Finn McMissile, Holley Shiftwell and Sammy Rose **(AN: Sammy did appear in the events of _Home For Christmas_ , but I didn't include her when I was writing it because it would've had spoilers for _When Life Gives You Lemons_ )**, who had spent the holidays with the citizens of the small town. Although, they hadn't been sure if Lightning and Francesco would be there. They had recently been visiting each other in Italy and were planning on returning home for Christmas. However, a snowstorm led to their connecting flight from New York City to Ornament Valley being cancelled. So, they drove all the way there. It was a pleasant surprise for everyone, but they got home in the end and celebrated Christmas in Radiator Springs.

"Do you think 2013's gonna be a good year?" Fudge wondered as she readjusted the party hat on her head, which was decorated with colourful pictures of balloons.

"I don't know", Lightning responded. "It sure looks good! I mean, I got a new Piston Cup season to look forward to, we're probably gonna head overseas at some point to see Francesco and the others-"

"And have you beat them all in a race", Fudge interjected with a grin.

"Yep, that too", Lightning agreed, chuckling.

"Did you know that 2013's gonna be the first year since 1987 where all the numbers in the year are different?" Fudge asked Lightning.

"Really?"

"Yeah. It was on Facebook and some idiot asked, 'What about 2000?'"

"Really?" he repeated, only this time he was laughing.

"Yeah... I hope they were kidding!"

"Me too."

"But that's the first time it's gonna happen in my life!" Fudge went on. "That's pretty cool. Especially for the Year of Fudge."

"The Year of Fudge?" the race car echoed, puzzled.

"Yeah, I think this year's gonna be a really good year", she explained. "I mean I'm pretty nervous about turning thirteen" (Fudge dreaded the idea of becoming a teenager) "but still, I've got a feeling that good things are gonna happen to me. The Year of Fudge!"

Lightning smiled. "Right... Well, at least you're positive! And I know my year's gonna start off great..." He was gazing at a certain baby blue Porsche as she chatted and laughed with the other partygoers.

"Are you gonna kiss Sally at midnight?" the human girl wanted to know.

"Yeah."

Fudge made a face. "Ew." She loved teasing Lightning by pretending that kissing was gross.

Lightning laughed. "Give it three or four years, Fudge-O!"

"No!" she cried.

"Fudge! There you are!" human spy Sammy Rose greeted her fellow human as she entered the café with Lightning. Sammy had just approached with Sarge and Fillmore, who she had just been talking to.

"It got too loud in here!" the twelve-year-old explained.

"What?!" Fillmore asked, genuinely unable to hear her.

"It got too loud in here!" Fudge yelled again.

"What?!" Fillmore questioned again.

"Forget it!" Fudge stalked off. "I am _not_ doing this again!"

Sammy, Sarge and Fillmore stared at each other, confused. Lightning burst out laughing.

"What was _that_ about?!" Sarge wondered.

"What?!" Fillmore repeated.

* * *

"Hey, honey!" Flo called to Fudge as she drove past with a tray full of drinks. The ex show car always liked to make sure that everyone had a drink at midnight, so they could all have a toast after all of the kissing. She gave Fudge a can of soda. "Here's your drink! Now, go and find Guido and Luigi! They're lookin' for ya!"

"Thanks, Flo!" The tween took the can and headed off in search of her adoptive parents.

"Fudge! We were just about to look for you outside!" were the first words out of Luigi's mouth when his adoptive daughter approached him.

Before Fudge could respond, everyone in the café began yelling excitedly, "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six!"

The crowd prepared themselves for their New Year kisses. Lightning and Sally were going to kiss each other, obviously. As were Flo and Ramone and Mater and Holley (again, obviously). Finn and Sammy were going to kiss just as friends. Luigi and Guido had both been planning on kissing their daughter. Several of the other townsfolk had found tourists to kiss.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

And all at once, everyone hollered at the top of their lungs, " **HAPPY NEW YEAR!** "

That was when all of the kissing began. The perfect way to start the new year. 2012 was over, but 2013 looked promising as well and the townsfolk of Radiator Springs were all ready for the exciting new year, full of many great possibilities that lay ahead of them.

"All right, everybody!" Flo shouted once all of the commotion had died down. "Grab your drinks and raise them!" The entire crowd obeyed, raising their drinks. "To 2013!" the café owner cried.

"To 2013!" everyone else echoed, clinking their cans.

"The year of Fudge!" Fudge grinned along with the cars and occasional human around her and repeated her earlier thoughts to the crowd. "It's gonna be a great year! I can feel it!"

 **Kind of a short chapter, but future chapters will be longer and (I'm hoping) more interesting. In the meantime, please review.**


	2. 2013

**Guess who's back! That's right! It's me!** **I haven't forgotten about this story (in fact, I'm currently up to chapter sixteen); I just didn't wanna get _too_ far into it while _Life Could Be a Dream_ is still going. However, this is just a filler chapter, so I didn't see any harm in posting this now.**

 **Please enjoy.**

 **Chapter 2- 2013**

It wasn't until one-thirty in the morning that the party ended and everyone turned in for the night. At quarter to one, the last of the tourists had gone to their motels and the RS gang, Finn, Holley, Sammy and Francesco gathered around Flo's and talked about their plans for the new year and their New Year's resolutions.

"So, Fudge, you sure seem positive about this year", Sally informed the human girl with a smile.

"Well, that's my resolution", Fudge explained. "I'm gonna try to be more positive."

The twelve-year-old had only ever made two New Year's resolutions before, but, so far, she had a one hundred per cent success rate. For 2011, her resolution was to do more things that scared her. Although she accomplished that one, it didn't happen in the way she expected: being thrust on an international spy mission. Then, in 2012, she had the goal of trying to socialise with other kids more. Her social skills weren't great, which came from a combination of her autism and spending the first six years of her life growing up in an empty town. While she didn't actually make any new friends as a result of this resolution, she felt a little more confident talking to other kids.

"And I've already started!" Fudge went on. "I've got this really strong feeling that this is gonna be a great year!" She'd said it at least ten times at the party. Fudge tended to repeat herself a lot.

"Good vibes, man?" Fillmore asked with a smile.

She giggled. "Maybe!"

"Well, that there's a good resolution!" Mater declared. "Maybe that should be mine!"

"Mater, you're already the most positive person I know", Lightning informed his best friend with a chuckle.

"I think _yours_ should be to cut back on tractor tippin'", Sheriff piped up with a laugh.

"But tractor tippin's fun!" Mater argued.

"And _dangerous_!" Sheriff insisted.

"Well, _my_ New Year's resolution", Lightning got back on topic, "is to spend more time with my family here in Radiator Springs. I mean, I still wanna be racing, but I'm still gonna try and spend as much time here as possible." He smiled and kissed Sally.

"That's fine with me", she assured him. "I miss you when you're away at races."

"Yeah... Me too... That's why I made that my resolution."

Several of the others took turns to announce their own resolutions and goals for the year. They included everything from Fillmore wanting to spread more peace and love (that had been his New Year's resolution for the last, like twenty years, if not, longer) to Francesco wanting to beat McQueen while they raced overseas with their fellow World Grand Prix racers and their friends. The WGP (World Grand Prix) racers kept in touch regularly and took turns hosting each other in their home countries. Last year, they'd been on a racing tour of Europe, which had been a lot of fun. Then, at some point during the year, Rip Clutchgoneski, Long Ge, Shu Todoroki, Memo Rojas, Jr. and Carla Veloso were going to host the others in their home countries of the Republic of New Rearendia, China, Japan, Mexico and Brazil respectively. At the end of their discussion and as everyone returned home or to their motels, they all found themselves caught up in Fudge's enthusiasm. 2013 sure looked like it was gonna be a great year.

* * *

Sarge and Fillmore were the only ones in town up before ten o'clock that morning. Not surprising, considering how Sarge thought even waking up at six-thirty was a sleep-in and Fillmore, for some reason, always woke up not long after Sarge. Quite a while after those two awoke, the other residents would roll out of their homes and join the others at Flo's one by one, still looking completely exhausted.

"Don't worry, guys!" Flo assured them all with a laugh. "I got plenty of coffee here!"

"I think we're gonna be needing a _lot_ of that today!" Lightning agreed, chuckling.

"No fair!" Fudge whined. "I don't drink coffee!"

"You can have some if you want", Flo offered.

Fudge made a face. "Ew! No!"

Everyone laughed.

"So, what's everyone's plans for today?" Sarge asked.

"Sleeping!" Fudge answered with a loud yawn and everyone started laughing again.

"Well, Siddeley should be here any minute now", Finn announced, checking the time.

"You're leaving already?" Fudge questioned, unable to hide her disappointment.

"Fudge, we've been here for two weeks", Finn pointed out. "And CHROME agreed to give us the time off as long as we were back by January second."

"Well, you can still stay a little longer, right?" Mater spoke up hopefully.

"Mater, London is several hours ahead of Radiator Springs", Holley reminded him gently. "It will be tomorrow over there before it's tomorrow here."

"Aw, right." Mater had forgotten about that.

"When do you think you'll be back?" Fudge wondered.

"Hard to say", Sammy replied. "You know, we don't exactly have typical jobs. It depends on if crime hits a lull for a while."

"Possibly a month or two", Finn added.

Fudge grinned. "Okay! Can't wait!"

* * *

"Siddeley's here!" Holley announced twenty minutes later.

"Well, we sure hope you've all had a good time", Flo informed them.

"We have", Finn assured them all. "Thank you."

"And we hope to see you again soon!" Lightning added.

"Well, you're welcome to come and visit us in London anytime too", Holley offered.

"I'd like that!" Fudge proclaimed.

"Yeah, I bet you would!" Lightning chuckled.

"Well, we should get going." Finn gestured to Siddeley.

So, the Radiator Springs residents, Francesco and spies called goodbye to each other and waved. It was only a matter of seconds before Finn, Holley and Sammy were on board Siddeley the spy jet and taking to the skies. Then they were gone.

* * *

"So, Francesco, when are you leaving?" Fudge wondered.

"Why?!" he demanded. "Do you want to get rid of Francesco?!" Then he paused to collect himself. "No. Of course not. No one would _ever_ want to get rid of Francesco. He is far too handsome and lovable."

"I'm just curious", the human girl assured him hurriedly.

"Curious as to how much longer we're gonna have to put up with him saying stuff like that?!" Lightning whispered, amused.

"Yep", Fudge responded, giggling.

"Well, Francesco's mama gets home on the ninth of January", the Italian formula car explained. (She had been away somewhere for the holidays; none of the RS gang knew where.) "So, Francesco will be leaving here on the evening of the sixth of January. Then he has-a two days to get ready for her return. He has-a missed her so much! This was-a the first time Francesco spent the holidays away from her. He will-a be so happy to see her again!"

"Well, in the meantime", Lightning suggested, "why don't we have a race? I mean, I got a new racing season coming up soon and I could do with the practise. I don't know when your next race is, but it'll be fun to get ready for it."

"That would be _fantastico_!" Francesco responded with a cocky grin. "I would love to beat McQueen in a race!"

Lightning rolled his eyes. "Any chance you could leave now?"

* * *

Pretty soon, the entire town was ready to watch the two fastest race cars in the world square off at Willy's Butte. Luigi had the flag. He, Guido and Fudge were dressed up as 95 fans, which meant that Fudge was in her usual cheerleading attire. Her cheerleading outfit consisted of a Rust-Eze racing jacket that was the same colour as Lightning's paint job with the Rust-Eze logo on the front, yellow lightning bolts on the sleeves, a checkered flag pattern on the shoulders and Fudge 95 written across the back; a red T-shirt with a yellow lightning bolt and the number 95 on the front; red shorts; red and yellow striped socks that came up to her knees; Lightning McQueen shoes and finally, a bright red glitter top hat.

"Are you ready?!" Luigi quizzed the two racers.

"Yeah, I'm ready!" Lightning responded.

" _Si_!" Francesco added.

They both sounded extremely confident.

"Start your engines!"

Neither race car hesitated to obey.

"On your mark, get set!" Luigi went on. " _Uno_ for the money, _due_ for the show, _tre_ to get ready and _quattro_ to... _Go_!"

The two sped off. Their friends cheered like crazy as they raced around Willy's Butte. Everything went smoothly until they got to the first left turn. Lightning was able to make it around the turn without incident. After all, his late mentor, Doc Hudson, had taught him well. Francesco, however, was a different story. He had very little experience on dirt tracks, so he spun out of control. Lightning had to skid to a halt as he saw the formula car fly off the track and smash straight into a cactus.

Fudge winced and giggled, both sympathetic and amused.

McQueen was struggling not to laugh himself as he raced back. "Are you okay?!"

" _Si_... Francesco is fine."

"I know how painful it is", Lightning commented sympathetically. "I used to be as bad as you on dirt."

"How _do_ you make the turns on dirt?"

"It's pretty simple. You just gotta turn right to go left."

"How? Francesco does not understand."

"Come on. I'll show you."

* * *

So, they spent the entire afternoon on the track, perfecting the turn. Francesco seemed to adapt to the whole "turn right to go left" trick faster than everyone thought he would. By the time the sun went down, both race cars were out of breath.

"Come on, Fudge-O!" Lightning called to the twelve-year-old. "I'll take you for a couple laps, then we'll call it a day."

Fudge grinned. Every now and then, McQueen would take her for a couple of laps around not just Willy's Butte, but real race tracks where he competed. She loved it. One day, she wanted to be an assistant crew chief; also known as human crew chiefs or rider crew chiefs. In all forms of racing, this was something that was not common, but not unheard of either. The job of the assistant crew chief- which was a job given to a human, despite a lot of people believing that humans didn't belong in the sport of car racing- would be to ride around the track with the race car and act as extra eyes from the racer's point of view for the crew chief. While some claimed that this shouldn't be allowed as it was an unfair advantage, the argument was shut down by the fact that the race cars with assistant crew chiefs also had the _dis_ advantage of carrying extra weight, so race officials around the world allowed it. For the most part. And with her love of being on the track and encyclopaedic knowledge of the sport, Lightning had no doubt that Fudge could do it one day. Neither did anybody else in town. She just had to wait until she was a little bit older.

So, the human girl grabbed her helmet and magnetic belt, gloves and shoulder and knee pads that she had for protection.

"I'm ready!" she declared as she got suited up.

"You ready?"

"Yeah!" Fudge leapt up onto his roof and attached her magnets, grinning all the way as she readied herself for what was about to happen.

Lightning turned to the Fiat in front of him. "Luigi?"

" **GO!** " he cried.

Once again, Lightning and Francesco sped off, this time with Fudge. The twelve-year-old couldn't wipe the smile off her face. Moving at two hundred miles an hour, wind on her face, that rush of exhilaration. This was one of the best feelings ever! She could easily understand why Lightning loved it so much. And she couldn't wait till she was old enough to do this on the track regularly. The human girl wished she could go this fast herself, but didn't mind too much. This was the next best thing. And in some ways, this way was even better. It was something that she and the car she saw as her older brother could do together. And she loved every minute of it.

"That was fun!" Fudge proclaimed gleefully as Lightning started to slow down.

"Yeah? Well, I'm glad you had fun!"

"Thanks!" Fudge had loosened her magnets a little too early and tumbled off his roof.

"Fudge!" everyone exclaimed hysterically, rushing forward to surround the twelve-year-old lying in the dirt.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" she assured the crowd of cars hurriedly, bouncing up and brushing herself off.

"Are you sure?" Luigi questioned, concerned.

"Yeah! I'm fine!"

"You sure are lucky I wasn't going any faster when you fell", Lightning remarked.

" _Si_ ", Francesco agreed. "Francesco would not want to see what would happen to you if McQueen was going at his-a top speed. It would be even worse if you were with Francesco when _he_ was going _his_ top speed."

"Luigi still worries about you when you go racing like that, Fudgie", the Fiat commented, kissing his daughter. Before Lightning took her out for the first time, he felt like Luigi, Guido and Doc were the three that he needed permission from. It hadn't been easy convincing any one of the three, but they all learned to trust the young race car.

"You're pretty tough when it comes to pain, soldier; I'll give you that", Sarge agreed with a smile, "but you're not exactly invincible."

"Guys, I'm _fine_!" Fudge repeated, walking off. "It didn't hurt at all! I'm not limping and I'm still in one piece!"

The others couldn't help laughing.

"Yes", Luigi agreed, planting another big kiss on the top of his daughter's head, "but I am your father and so is Guido. And McQueen and Mater are your big brothers, Lizzie is your grandmother and everyone else is your aunts and uncles. We all have the job of taking care of you. We are never going to stop worrying about you. You are fine this time, yes, but next time, you might not be so lucky. We just want you and McQueen to be careful."

"We always do!" Fudge assured him.

That was the end of the conversation.

* * *

"What are we doing now?" Francesco wondered as the sky grew dark and everyone gazed up at the sky.

"Just watching the stars", Lightning explained. "You know, I grew up in the city, so I never realised how beautiful the stars were till I came here."

"Why?" Mater was puzzled. "Ya don't have stars in the city?"

"Well, they're harder to see in the city", Lightning reminded him. "You know, with all of those lights."

"Those lights are pretty too", Fudge commented. "But not as pretty as the neon lights in Radiator Springs."

McQueen smiled. "I agree."

" _Bellissima_!" Francesco exclaimed as he caught a glimpse of a shooting star.

"Yeah, it really is beautiful out here", Lightning remarked. "We see quite a lot of shooting stars out here."

"But we never make wishes 'cause we're always happy with the way things are!" Fudge declared.

Luigi smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"Yeah, that's right", Lightning agreed, thinking about how happy he was now that he was living in Radiator Springs.

"This is where you decided to slow down", Francesco commented as if he could read McQueen's mind.

"Yeah... It wasn't easy to do at first, but when I did, it was worth it."

Francesco nodded, but didn't say anything. Neither did anybody else. They all just focused on the stars in the big, black sky above them in a content silence. All of them were thinking that 2013 had gotten off to a great start. However, what none of them knew was that that was all they were going to get for 2013. A great start.

 **So, there's chapter two! I hope you enjoyed!**

 **Yeah, some of the international versions of Jeff Gorvette's role in _Cars 2_ are mentioned in this chapter. I don't know. I kind of like the idea that they're all friends, even the ones that weren't actually _in_ the World Grand Prix.**

 **Edit: I got asked about how Fudge riding on Lightning's hood would make it hard for him to see. So, I changed it to her being on his roof. I figured that would make more sense.**

 **So, the next chapter is a filler chapter, but kind of a build-up to the drama that's going to unfold in this story. So, I hope you're as excited/anxious as I am.**

 **For now, though, any and all reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	3. Just a Typical Day

**Hi, guys! I really hope you're enjoying this story so far!**

 **Just one quick thing before we begin. I don't mean to sound like a pain here, but again, I feel like a couple of people are in violation of the rules I have for reviewing and messaging me, which I have listed on my profile. So, if you can please read and consider those rules, I would seriously appreciate that.**

 **I've been asked about whether or not this story will have a happy ending. I don't have the exact ending planned out yet, but I'm planning on giving it one, though not necessarily in the way you might think.**

 **I haven't been asked about this, but I feel like it's something I need to explain. Finn and Holley do not have a major role in this story and the main reason they're in here at all is because in this story and my upcoming _Cars 3_ story, I don't want to just completely ignore the existence of _Cars 2_. Despite what some people may think, _Cars 2_ has its fans, who accept it as canon. So, even if it's nothing major, I wanna have a couple of references to it. (Sammy kinda has a little bigger role, but I don't wanna give too much away!)**

 **So, like I said last time, this chapter is a bit of a build-up to the drama that's going to unfold in the story. Most of what goes on isn't _too_ significant to the plot, but more fillers.**

 **Okay. Now, I'll shut up and let you enjoy this chappie!**

 **Chapter 3- Just a Typical Day...**

Over the next few days, everyone in town got into the swing of dealing with tourists again. They'd had a kind of chill day on New Year's Day, but by the time January sixth rolled around, Radiator Springs was business as usual.

When Radiator Springs first returned to the map, Fudge hated the fact that customers took up everyone's time and they had less time to spend with her, especially since she was used to receiving a _lot_ of attention from the others. However, on this particular morning of Sunday, January sixth, she didn't really mind. She had big plans that day and couldn't wait. Lightning and Francesco were going to the airport, so the latter could return home to Italy. And she was going with them because she loved long rides and she loved the airport. It would take about three hours to get there and another three back, plus she imagined that they would go to the racetrack in the city. Maybe Lightning would take her for a couple of laps again. She was sure that he would. He always did.

That morning, Fudge had been rudely woken up by the sound of the reveille as usual and- again, as usual- it was followed by the sound of the electric guitar. She knew what was coming and recited it along with Sarge and Fillmore, giggling.

" **WILL YOU TURN THAT DISRESPECTFUL JUNK OFF?!** " Sarge barked just as he did every single morning.

"Respect the classics, man!" Fillmore shot back as he, too, did every single morning in response to Sarge. "It's Hendrix!"

Fudge groaned and grinned in annoyance and amusement as she flopped back onto the pillow. Didn't they realise how old that was? It had been a part of Radiator Springs as long as the two of them had. The human girl tried to go back to sleep. When she woke up again, she lay snuggled up in bed for a little while, not wanting to move like she always did (she always felt the need to close her eyes because her eyelids felt really heavy, which did _nothing_ to wake her up!) before making her way down into the kitchen, still half-asleep.

" _Buon giorno_!" she greeted Luigi, who was waiting for her in the kitchen, tiredly. Guido was probably over at Flo's already. She yawned loudly and was struggling to keep her eyes open, making the Fiat laugh. He knew that his daughter was _not_ a morning person.

" _Buon giorno_ , Fudge!" he returned the greeting warmly as he watched his daughter open the fridge. She was going with him over to Flo's for breakfast as they did nearly every morning, but she was always thirsty as soon as she woke up and couldn't wait that long to get a drink (plus, she was going to sample some leftover spaghetti from the night before, which she wasn't supposed to do, but she had very limited self control when it came to food!). "Did you sleep well?"

She nodded as she sucked her fingers clean of pasta sauce and pulled a carton of orange juice out of the fridge and poured it into a plastic cup. "Yeah. What about you?"

Luigi smiled and nodded. "Yes. I slept very well, thank you." He gave her a cuddle and a big kiss, which she returned without hesitation.

"I had an interesting dream last night", the human girl commented and proceeded to describe it for Luigi as she drank her juice. It involved her winning a Piston Cup of her very own. She remembered the great feeling of crossing the finishing line first.

"I wanna be a racer someday!" Fudge commented, which Luigi knew already. "Well, a human crew chief!"

"I know!" Luigi smiled and gave her another kiss. "And I am sure you will one day. I have seen what you can do and I know you will be _fantastico_! But McQueen just wants you to wait until you are a little bit older, okay?"

Fudge grinned and nodded. "Okay. For now, I can still race with Lightning by Willy's Butte!"

"Yes you can!" Luigi agreed.

"And we're gonna do that today on a real track!" she reminded her father excitedly. "And we're gonna go to the airport too!"

Luigi laughed. "Yes. I know." He gave her another kiss before announcing, "Now, we should go over to Flo's before everyone wonders where we are. Even Guido is already there."

"Okay!"

So, Fudge, still in her pyjamas, robe and Ugg boots, joined Luigi and the others over at Flo's.

* * *

" _Buon giorno_ , everyone!" she greeted them all cheerfully, taking her usual place on the floor, cross-legged, next to Luigi.

" _Buon giorno_!" several of the others replied, having just greeted Luigi.

"Mornin', Fudge!" everyone else added.

"You're sure in a good mood", Sarge commented, chuckling.

"We're going to the airport today!" she repeated excitedly.

Lightning laughed. "Yeah, we are. We'll be leaving at about twelve o'clock."

"Okay!" the twelve-year-old agreed.

"Really?" Sally asked. "That early?"

"But I thought we was gonna go tractor tippin'!" Mater protested.

"You better not be!" Sheriff jumped in sternly.

"I mean... We was gonna hang out..." Mater corrected himself, but nobody knew who he thought he was kidding.

"We'll do that when we get back, buddy", Lightning assured the tow truck. "We're leaving that early because Francesco's flight is at eight o'clock, it'll take us three hours to get there... and I think we're gonna wanna take a couple of laps on the track there first."

Fudge lit up. "Yeah! Let's do that!"

"All right. I'll pick you up at about quarter to twelve, okay?" Lightning asked.

"Yay!" the human girl cheered.

"That's okay, right?" McQueen asked. "Luigi? Guido?"

"Yes, that is fine", Luigi assured him.

"(Fine)", Guido echoed in his native language.

"Just look after her!" Luigi added.

"I will", Lightning promised.

"But for now", Flo piped up, carrying a tray of food and a tall glass of orange juice for Fudge, "you should try to eat some breakfast, honey. Then do you think you could help me with some dishes? I'll be done with the stove by then." Fudge had had a huge fear of fire for as long as she could remember and didn't even like being around a lit stove.

"Sure!" Fudge agreed. She often helped the residents of Radiator Springs with odd little jobs. She'd do anything from gardening with Red to dishes with Flo to sending messages to the other residents around the town. She enjoyed doing all of those things; not because of the tasks themselves, but because they meant that she got to spend time with each of her family members. They would always talk while they worked.

So, after she'd talked to the other residents and downed her breakfast of orange juice, scrambled eggs on toast, a side of bacon and a chocolate muffin, Fudge raced back home to shower, brush her teeth and get dressed. Up in her room, she pulled on a clean outfit- a dark blue London souvenir fleece jacket that she bought the day before she was knighted in London; yellow T-shirt with the words RADIATOR SPRINGS GATEWAY TO ORNAMENT VALLEY on the front in black letters (which she got from Lizzie's shop as the old Model T always made sure that Fudge always had at least one that fit); camouflage pants; white socks and red running shoes. She was ready for the day!

* * *

Now that she was ready for the day, Fudge returned to Flo's. She entered the café and threw off her jacket before moving over to the sink.

"So, honey", Flo began as the two of them washed and dried dishes, "what's been goin' on with you?"

"Not a lot", the twelve-year-old responded, using her soapy fingers to tuck her hair behind her ears. "Just excited that I'm going to the airport today!"

"Yeah? Why do you like the airport?"

"I don't know... I just like how exciting they are. You know, the idea of going on a plane and going somewhere."

"Honey, you know you're not goin' on a plane, don't you?" Flo reminded her. "You're just droppin' Francesco off."

"I know! I still like the airport!" she replied, stacking another dish.

The two of them changed the subject and talked about everything from a new book series that Fudge, who liked to read, had been interested in lately to what new drinks were going to be coming into the café soon. They even sang a couple of songs together (Flo was an excellent singer; Fudge not so much). As usual, Fudge enjoyed talking to Flo. The former show car was the closest thing to a mother the human girl had ever had and so, she loved interacting with her.

* * *

Once the dishes had been done, Fudge killed time until Lightning came to pick her up by doing other jobs with and/or for the other residents. She planted some new flowers with Red, organised some files for Sally, sent a message to Sheriff from Sarge and then another message back to Sarge. Again, she chattered away with each of them about just about every topic under the sun. She also got a little time to herself, reading. When Lightning came for her, she was in the middle of helping Luigi and Guido stack a new tyre display in the store.

"Hey, Fudge-O!" he called out right when she thought she was about to go insane.

She lit up with a huge grin. "Hi!"

"You ready to go?"

"I think so." Fudge turned back to her fathers. "Unless you guys need me to stay and-"

"No, no, no, no!" Luigi cut her off. "It is okay. You go with McQueen."

"Okay!" Fudge gave him a kiss.

" _Grazie_ for your help, angel." He returned her kiss.

"Not sure when we'll be back", Lightning piped up. "It depends on a lot of stuff. Traffic, when we're bored... So, I'll call you when we're on our way home."

Luigi nodded. "Okay." He trusted Lightning. " _Grazie_. Just look after her."

"Of course I will", McQueen assured him and Luigi knew he would.

Fudge took off to grab her magnets and helmet. When she returned, she ran back to her fathers and gave them both lots of hugs and kisses.

"Have fun, Fudgie." Luigi gave her another kiss. "We will see you tonight, okay?"

"Okay." Again, she returned the kiss.

"(Goodbye, Fudge)", Guido added, also giving her a kiss. "(Stay safe, okay?)"

"(I will)", she promised, giving her other father a kiss too. "(I love you, Guido.)"

"(I love you too)", he replied.

"And I love _you_ , Luigi!" Fudge called cheerfully as she leapt up onto Lightning's roof and they drove off.

"I love you too, Fudge!"

* * *

"Come on, Fudge-O! Francesco's waiting for us!" McQueen informed her. "And we gotta get our lunch from Flo. She made us sandwiches."

"What kind of sandwiches?" the twelve-year-old wanted to know.

"I think you got a cheese one."

"Ooh! Yum!"

"Lightning McQueen!" Francesco called. "Are we leaving now? Francesco was-a worried that you were much too slow for him!"

Lightning chuckled. "No. We're ready to go now, Francesco. Just as soon as we pick up our lunch from Flo's."

Flo seemed to have overheard him because she drove over to him at that exact moment with the sandwiches as well as some snacks. "Here they are, honey!"

"Thanks, Flo!"

"Thanks, Flo!" Fudge echoed.

" _Grazie_ ", Francesco added.

"No problem", the former show car assured them. "Now, you better get going if you wanna use the track before Francesco's flight. And be careful. Weather report says a storm should be hittin' some time this evenin'."

"Right!" Lightning agreed. "Let's go!"

So, after calling goodbye to any of the residents they passed as they went about their business, they were off. It was a long drive to the airport. The trio entertained themselves with the sandwiches and various snacks that Flo had made for them, a couple of word games, singing "Life is a Highway" at the top of their lungs as Fudge and Lightning often did on the road. Only this time, they had to teach Francesco the lyrics. They also talked about racing in a combination of English and Italian (Lightning could speak a little bit of Italian, thanks to Luigi and Guido, but nowhere near as well as Francesco and Fudge, who were both fluent in the language). So, the three hours on the road rolled by so quickly.

* * *

"Here we are!" Lightning announced as they pulled up to the speedway in the city.

"Here we are!" Fudge echoed, leaping off the race car's roof. "This is a good track!" she declared before rambling on and on about the history and stats of the speedway.

"You have been here before?" Francesco asked.

"Sure", Lightning responded. "We have a race here once a year in the Piston Cup and I come here whenever I wanna race on asphalt. We don't have a lot of that in Radiator Springs."

"And you can't race on the asphalt we _do_ have!" Fudge added, giggling. "Because Sheriff will arrest you!"

"Yeah..." Lightning agreed, chuckling, and Francesco couldn't help but get the feeling that his rival was talking from experience.

"So, Francesco", Lightning began as they entered the speedway. "We got a bit of time till your flight and we can stay here as long as we want." He had gotten permission to use the track for the day. "What do you say we take a couple of laps?" He grinned, knowing exactly what the answer was going to be.

"Of course!" the Italian formula car responded. "Francesco has enough time before his flight to beat McQueen again."

The race car rolled his eyes. "Oh. You're gonna regret that!"

It was only a matter of minutes before the two race cars were ready on the track.

"Okay, Fudge-O. Why don't you let me and Francesco take a couple of laps and then, I'll take you, all right?" The human girl pouted, feeling like she was going to be left out, so he added, "Hey! Why don't you wave the flag to start the race?"

"And the checkered flag at the end?" she questioned hopefully.

"Sure!" he agreed, chuckling.

"Yay!" she cheered, grabbing the flag.

"Okay! You ready?"

"Ready!" she confirmed, standing in front of the two racers. "Are _you_ ready?"

The two racers responded by revving their engines, making Fudge jump. She didn't really like loud noises. She was long used to the sound of engines, but occasionally, it still made her jump.

"On your marks!" she cried. "Get set... _Grow_!"

Francesco stared at her, confused, for a moment while Lightning shot off.

Fudge burst out laughing. "I said _grow_ , not _go_! You're disqualified!"

" _Fudge_!" Lightning groaned, but he was laughing.

"Well, that's what you get for being mean to me on New Year's!" the human insisted.

"Okay, okay", he admitted, returning to the starting line. "I guess I deserved that!"

"Okay, okay, for real, this time", Fudge promised. "On your marks, marks, marks!" she shouted, trying to make her voice sound like an echo. "Get set, get set, get set... _Go_!"

She lowered the flag and, once again, they were off. Lightning was just a little bit in front of Francesco, but that would be easy ground for Francesco to make up. The two were bumper to bumper, constantly overtaking each other, both with huge grins on their faces.

Fudge found herself, gazing intently at the two racers. She wanted nothing more than to be a part of it. To do what they did. It made her wonder who was to decide whether someone was a human or a car and what kind of car they got to be and all that. She wished that _she_ could be as fast as Lightning and Francesco. She couldn't help smiling as she thought to herself, _How awesome would_ that _be?_ At least she had Lightning to take her for rides. Just another reason why he was the best brother in the whole world.

" _All right, Fudge-O!_ " she heard Lightning call into the radio after about an hour. " _We_ _got time to take you for a couple laps before we gotta go to the airport, all right_?"

"Yeah!" she cheered.

Lightning laughed. " _All right. We're coming in now. You got the checkered flag?_ "

"Yep! Right here!" She held it up before moving in closer to the track.

" _Good girl!_ "

As the two racers came in, Fudge waved the checkered flag like crazy. They were still jockeying for first place. It was so close! Even though it wasn't an official race and there were only two competitors, it was still really exciting!

"Come on, come on, come on!" Fudge whispered anxiously as they drew closer to the finish line. She was jumping up and down in anticipation. " _Come on_!"

Right at the very last second, when the other two were least expecting it, Francesco overtook Lightning to come in first.

"Ha, ha!" he laughed. "I told you! Francesco is McQueen's superior in every way!"

Lightning just rolled his eyes again, though, he was still smiling.

"I'm ready!" Fudge changed the subject, pulling on her magnets and helmet. She climbed back onto Lightning's roof. "Let's do this!"

"All right..." Lightning chuckled at her enthusiasm. She sounded an awful lot like him when he was eager to race. He, along with Francesco, took a couple of seconds to get ready before the former yelled, " ** _GO_** **!** "

And just like that, they were off again. Fudge, as usual, took great delight in the speed. Every now and then, she would practise her human crew chief skills, calling out tips and observations to Lightning, who would smile and thank her. If she tried hard enough, she could almost see the other forty-odd race cars on the track beside her (or, preferably, _behind_ her!) and hear the screaming fans of the packed stadium. As Lightning came in to finish each lap, she imagined the checkered flag being waved.

" _Unbelievable! It's Lightning McQueen and Fudge Rossi-Topolino for the win!" Bob Cutlass_ _announced, blown away by the incredible victory_.

" _I don't believe it, I don't believe it!" Darrell Cartrip shrieked over and over again_.

" _It's one thing to be the world's greatest race car", Bob Cutlass commented, "but with the_ _world's greatest assistant crew chief too, not only is McQueen the luckiest car in the world,_ _but_ _he and Rossi are an unstoppable dream team!"_

 _Fireworks showered over the ecstatic stadium. The jumbo screens lit up Fudge's overjoyed_ _face. The crowd was chanting, "Fudge, Fudge, Fudge, Fudge!"_

" _Fudge_!"

Fudge snapped out of her daydream and grinned at Lightning sheepishly. "Yeah?"

The race car chuckled. "Wow! You were miles away, weren't you?" He shook his hood before continuing, "This is gonna have to be the last lap, all right? Then we're going to the airport."

"Okay..." It was obvious that she was trying not to sound disappointed.

"Hey! Come on! We're gonna go to the airport, watch a couple of planes. You were so excited about that", he reminded her. "Then we'll go out for dinner and, if you want, we can come back after that. Just you and me."

"Really?" She hadn't been expecting that.

"Sure. We got the speedway for the whole day."

"Okay!" the twelve-year-old agreed.

"Yeah? That sound good?"

"Yeah!" she cheered.

"All right..." That was the end of the conversation as Lightning and Francesco continued on for a final lap.

McQueen came in first this time.

"Do some donuts!" Fudge requested gleefully.

"All right, just a couple", he relented. "Last time I had you with me when I did donuts, you almost threw up."

The human girl laughed like crazy as she was spun around and Lightning found himself laughing along with her.

"We won, we won!" she hollered as he came to a stop.

"Yeah we did!" Lightning agreed with a grin. "We make a pretty good team, Fudge-O. You're gonna be a great assistant crew chief one day."

Fudge's face lit up at the compliment. "Really?!"

"Really."

" _Si_ ", Francesco piped up. "Francesco sees that you have talent too. And Francesco knows talent because he knows himself."

"Thanks! I still can't believe we won!" the twelve-year-old gushed, hugging McQueen. "We gotta get our trophy!"

"Fudge, you know there's no actual trophy, right?" Lightning reminded her.

"Just go with it!" she ordered.

"Right..." the amused race car agreed.

* * *

The two cars had to wait for Fudge to finish off her fake victory speech, which included taking off her shoe and pretending it was a trophy, before heading off to the airport.

"There's a plane!" Fudge exclaimed, pointing to a large jet coming into land.

"Oh, yeah!"

"Where d'you think it came from?"

"I don't know", Lightning responded.

"Well, it says American Airlines", Francesco observed.

"Yeah, but we're _in_ America", the tween pointed out. "It could've come from Europe or someplace."

"That's true..." McQueen agreed. He turned to Francesco. "You're flying with American Airlines, right?" he wanted to confirm.

The Italian racer nodded. " _Si_."

"There's another plane!" Fudge pointed to it. This one was taking off.

Not a lot happened while they were at the airport. Fudge just gazed dreamily at the flight board as the other two got Francesco checked in. They waited around for a while, watching several planes take off, before the two Radiator Springs residents said goodbye to Francesco at the security area.

"Well, Francesco", Lightning began sincerely, "it's been fun. And don't forget. You're welcome to come back to Radiator Springs anytime."

"Francesco would like that", he replied equally sincerely. "He is looking forward to beating you in a race again already."

" _No way_!" Fudge shouted, attracting several people's attention. Well, those who weren't already staring at the two famous race cars. "Lightning will kick your bumper!"

Francesco just smirked. "And you are welcome to visit Francesco in Italy anytime too. He can beat you there too."

McQueen just laughed. "Well, Fudge here goes with her parents once a year. Maybe I can tag along later in the year." Fudge, Guido and Luigi had an annual trip to Italy to visit Luigi's family and do some sightseeing in other parts of the country as well.

"Maybe", Fudge agreed. "I'm not sure when we're going yet."

"Well, this year's just started. I'm sure we'll figure it out", the stock car assured her before turning back to Francesco. "And we gotta talk to the other racers about when we're all getting together."

His fellow racer nodded in agreement. " _Si_. But for now, Francesco can't wait to go home and see his mama." He started to roll off and didn't fail to make a big show of the CIAO MCQUEEN bumper sticker he still had. " _Ciao_ , McQueen! _Ciao, Signorina_ Fudge!"

"Ka- _ciao_ , Francesco!" the two echoed in unison teasingly.

Lightning and Fudge watched as Francesco went through security. Then he was gone.

* * *

"What do you say, Fudge-O?" Lightning began on their way out of the airport about an hour and a half later. During that time, they had done some more plane-watching and making up stories about said planes and people that passed them until they looked at an online radar to see where the planes were really coming from. "Pizza for dinner?"

The human's eyes lit up. She _loved_ pizza. "Yeah! Can we get stuffed crust?!"

McQueen grinned. "Sure! As long as we get pineapple on it too!" he teased her.

Fudge wrinkled up her face. "Yuck!"

He chuckled, pulling his sister in close to him and ruffling her hair playfully. "All right. Let's go!"

It took a while to get out of the airport because fans were crowding around, wanting autographs and photos with Lightning McQueen. Of course, he agreed. He didn't mind doing these kinds of things for his fans. After all, they always do so much for him by supporting him. Even so, after a while, Fudge seemed to get kind of bored. Some of the fans recognised her as McQueen's cheerleader and wanted to get into a photo with her too. Not all of them, though. By the time they got out of there and were down the freeway, she was starving and couldn't wait to get pizza.

* * *

The pizza place they went to appeared to be practically empty ("People haven't given up on their New Year's resolutions yet!" Lightning commented, chuckling. "Give it a couple days and this place will be packed!"). That was good for two reasons. The first being they got served quickly and the second was that, although more fans approached, requesting photos and autographs, there weren't many.

It wasn't long before Lightning was enjoying a Hawaiian pizza (which sparked a mass pineapple on pizza debate between the two of them) and a can of oil while Fudge had a plain cheese pizza and a can of soda. Both of them had stuffed crust. It was a nice, content moment as they sat around, talking and laughing. They were also doing a little bit of singing and dancing to the song, "Ironic", which was on the iPod Lightning had given to her on her twelfth birthday.

"Hey, you know what's weird about pizza?" Fudge questioned.

"How Dodge Ram delicious it is?" Lightning guessed with a smile.

"Well, yeah", the twelve-year-old admitted, also smiling broadly, "I mean, how many people do you know who don't like pizza?"

"Fillmore? Sarge?" Fillmore didn't like pizza because he was vegan whereas Sarge just wasn't into that kind of junk food.

"Yeah, well, Sarge and Fillmore aren't _normal_!"

McQueen laughed hysterically.

"Well, I was gonna say how it's a circle, cut into triangles and served in a square box."

Lightning thought about that for a second, realising that Fudge was right. "Huh. That _is_ weird."

"Hey, do you know when we're next gonna see Cal and Bobby?" Fudge wanted to know, her mouth still full.

"Not sure... Why?"

"Just wondering", the twelve-year-old giggled. "It'll be fun to watch you beat 'em again!"

For the millionth time that day, Lightning laughed. "Well, the new season is still a little less than two months away. But then we got all the pre-season stuff and we're probably gonna get together for a race before that."

Fudge nodded, swallowing her mouthful of pizza and scooping up strings of cheese. "Cool. I miss them."

"You mean you miss insulting them?" the stock car teased.

"Maybe..." She grinned devilishly. " _You_ tease Cal!" she reminded him.

" _Everyone_ teases Cal!"

And the pair burst out laughing once more.

"Well, I miss them too", Lightning commented. "And Mack." Mack had been away, visiting family for the holidays. "And Rusty and Dusty. And The King and Tex..."

"I miss all of them!" Fudge proclaimed.

"Yeah, well, hopefully, we'll see them all soon when we get ready for the new racing season", McQueen told her.

"Yeah..." Immediately, Fudge began looking forward to that. She loved racing almost as much as Lightning did. She couldn't wait until she was a racer herself. And if both Lightning McQueen and Francesco Bernoulli, the two greatest race cars in the _world_ , thought that she had the talent for it, she was confident that it would happen.

After finishing their pizza, the two of them splurged and both got hot fudge sundaes.

"Pretty soon, I gotta start my diet!" Lightning had remarked. Due to his racing career, he had to follow a strict diet most of the time, to his dismay. "I deserve some pizza and ice cream every now and then!"

"Yeah!" Fudge grinned. Her face, by this point, was a complete mess. It was covered in tomato sauce, cheese, hot fudge sauce and ice cream. That was one thing that still hadn't changed from when McQueen first met her as a five-year-old. "And it's delicious!"

"That's one thing I can agree with you on!" He stared at his ice cream longingly. "Who knows when I'll get the chance to have this again?"

"Not me!" Fudge replied. "I don't know how you can go ages without it!"

"It's just somethin' I gotta do."

"I still couldn't do it! Even if I did have a great job like yours!"

* * *

"Well, Fudge-O", Lightning announced, wiping Fudge's messy face as best as he could with a napkin and checking the time on his phone, "we better get a move on if we want another go on the track before we head home." By then, it was eight o'clock.

"All right!" she agreed, leaping up. "A great end to a great day!"

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you've had a great day!" Lightning told her, giving her a gentle kiss. "I have too. But we still got a little more fun time left if we hurry, so let's go!"

So, Lightning paid for their food and drinks, Fudge pulled on her jacket, magnets and helmet once more and they left. They were heading back to the track. However, if they'd known- if they'd had _any_ idea- what was going to happen, they never would've returned...

 **Well, there you go! I seriously hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's in the next one things start to go awry.**

 **I recently saw Owen Wilson (the voice of Lightning McQueen) in a movie called _The Internship_ , which I really enjoyed and I've included a couple of references to it in this story. In this chapter, that's the part about the song, "Ironic." It comes up later again in the story. Here, I just used it to show Lightning goofing around and having fun with his little sister.**

 **I also deliberately chose not to make Fudge fight with anybody before she left.** **It seems to happen a lot in books and movies and TV shows where two people fight and then something bad happens to one of them.** **I felt like that would've been too cliché, you know what I mean?**

 **So, I hope you all enjoyed that chapter and can't wait for the next one! See ya!**


	4. That Ended in Disaster

**So, who's ready to get real sad? If the answer is _not you_ , then I highly recommend clicking the back button in the corner or the red X in the other corner. Because as j** **ungkookies** **so rightfully referred to it, the Bad Thing TM is about to happen.** **If you're ready for this, by all means, don't let me stop you and keep reading!**

 **Chapter 4- ...That Ended in Disaster**

An obnoxious series of rings set to a tune sounded as Lightning rolled through the city streets with Fudge on his roof, interrupting another round of "Ironic".

"Your phone's ringing", Fudge pointed out.

"I know." Lightning answered it. "Hello?"

" _Hey, Stickers!_ " a familiar voice greeted him on the phone.

"Hey, Sal!" The race car was always happy to hear from his girlfriend.

"Hi, Sally!" Fudge called, sounding just as happy as Lightning.

" _Hey, Fudge! Are you two having fun?_ " the Porsche questioned.

"Yeah", Lightning answered. "We just dropped Francesco off at the airport and had pizza for dinner. Now, we're gonna go back to the track for a little while."

" _Okay. When do you think you'll be back?_ "

"Eleven-thirty at the earliest", he responded after some mental calculations. "Probably after midnight, though."

" _Stickers, Fudge needs her sleep_ ", Sally reminded him.

"Come on, Sally! She's _twelve_! I used to stay up later than that when _I_ was twelve! Besides, it's not like it's a school night and she's gotta get up early tomorrow."

Sally chuckled. " _I guess you're right. Though, I'm gonna have to talk to Luigi and Guido._ "

"You're gonna get in _trouble_!" Fudge sang, giggling.

The amused stock car rolled his eyes.

" _One more thing_ ", Sally went on. " _Didn't you hear about the storm that's supposed_ _to be coming sometime tonight? Not sure if you're gonna want to be out in that_."

"We'll be fine", her boyfriend assured her casually. "I know what I'm doing. First sign of trouble, we'll come straight home."

" _All right... I trust you. Just stay safe_."

"We will. All right, bye, Sal. I'll see you when we get back."

" _Okay. I'll see you soon_ ", she agreed. " _Love you_!"

"Love you more!"

"I love you both too!" Fudge piped up.

"Love you too, Fudge!" the other two chorused.

" _Try not to get too tired, all right?_ " Sally teased.

"I won't!" she promised, giggling.

"Bye, Sal!"

" _See ya, Stickers!_ "

They hung up.

"You okay?" Lightning asked, noticing that the human girl was shivering a little.

"Yeah... Just a little cold." She wrapped her jacket around herself tighter, hugging herself.

"All right. Well, we're not gonna be here for too long", he assured her.

* * *

"We're back!" Fudge exclaimed as they pulled up to the speedway yet again.

"We're back!" Lightning echoed.

"Back for more fun!"

The race car chuckled. "Well, come on. We don't have _that_ much time!"

"Then let's go!" Fudge shouted determinedly.

Even as they rolled onto the asphalt, grey clouds had rolled over the night sky, making seeing the stars an impossible task. Still it was light enough to race with the stadium lights flooded over them.

"How's your leg?" Lightning wanted to know before they got started. Fudge had broken her leg a year and a half ago during the World Grand Prix when Sir Miles Axlerod ran her over in an act of revenge after she and Mater exposed him as the mastermind of the Allinol scandal. Now, whenever it was about to rain, her leg let off some pain.

"It hurts a little", she admitted, "but I think I'll be fine."

He nodded, but he looked a little worried. "All right. Just let me know if it gets too bad."

"I will", she promised seriously.

Lightning kissed her. "Good girl."

"Let's go!" Fudge repeated, getting comfortable on his roof.

"You ready?" McQueen questioned, laughing at her impatience.

"Yeah!"

"Are you sure?" he teased her.

"Yeah!"

"All right!"

He revved his engine and was soon racing around the track again. Once again, Fudge took great delight in the great speed and got lost in her own little world, dreaming of being a real racer. Lightning, however, kept one eye on the track and the other on the sky. The clouds were constantly getting closer and the stock car wanted to make sure they didn't leave their departure too late. So, when he saw the first lightning flash during the middle of their third lap, he knew that it was time for them to get out of there.

"Come on, Fudge-O!" he announced as the familiar rumble of thunder sounded over the stadium and little bits of rain spat down on them. "We gotta get going now!" He started to slow down, much to Fudge's dismay.

"Are you serious?" she whined, unable to hide her disappointment.

"Yes I am."

"Already?"

"Yeah. Storm's coming."

"But that wasn't even three laps!" the human girl protested.

"I know, but it's raining and did you see that lightning? And by lightning, I _don't_ mean me", he added, laughing. Fudge giggled too. As if on cue, another flash of lightning lit up the sky. "Plus, we got a couple laps in earlier, so that's something. Come on. We're goin' home!"

"Do we _have_ to?!" she whined as McQueen came to a complete stop.

"Yes we do!" he insisted as more thunder rumbled and the rain picked up. "Weather's only gonna get worse now. Besides, it's getting late. You're tired", he added as Fudge yawned, "and Luigi and Guido are gonna be worried about you."

"You've raced in much worse than this!" the twelve-year-old attempted to reason. "And it's only nine o'clock! And Luigi and Guido know where we are! I don't wanna go home just yet! Please, just a couple more laps!"

Lightning hesitated. That was true. He _had_ been out in worse, training in all kinds of weather conditions, thanks to Doc. Though, Fudge hadn't. But what difference did _that_ make? _He_ was the one driving; not _her_. He stared up at the sky. Sure, it seemed as though they had some time before the weather got bad. Then again, the drive back would be three hours- probably longer in this weather- but maybe they wouldn't even run into the storm on the way back to Radiator Springs. He considered both of the options, knowing he'd have to decide fast.

"All right. Just a couple more laps", he agreed reluctantly. He knew, even then, that it probably wasn't the best idea, but what the hell?

"Yay!" the girl cheered. "Awesome! You're the best!"

"But then we're going home", he rushed on. "No complaints, all right? Just a couple more laps and we're going."

"I promise! Thank you! You're the best brother ever! This is awesome!"

But boy, did _that_ turn out to be the biggest mistake of their lives.

* * *

The first lap was rather uneventful. It was _fun_ , but nothing out of the ordinary. Fudge was laughing and grinning like crazy as Lightning moved at two hundred miles an hour. The stock car himself was also enjoying the feeling (well, he was a _race car_ ; how could he _not_?), but was partly distracted by the weather. The rain seemed to be picking up a little bit, making the track get slipperier and slipperier, but it was nothing that he couldn't handle. However, it was during the second lap that they took that the unthinkable happened.

Like every other typical racetrack in the Piston Cup, this track had four left turns. Again, nothing Lightning couldn't handle. Though, he did have to watch out when the track was wet. However, he soon found himself so caught up in the race- he considered it a race, despite the fact that there were no other competitors- that he was soon relaxed and concerns of the weather washed away. Before long, Lightning was pushing himself as much as he dared.

Not surprisingly, as it turned out, he should've paid more attention to the weather and the track conditions. As he attempted to make it around the fourth and final turn, one of his tyres slipped on a slick part of the track. His eyes widened as he felt himself slip. He veered out of control.

The good news was that he managed to correct himself in time before he was seriously injured. The bad news was that the same couldn't be said for Fudge.

It all happened so fast. The sudden jerk bounced Fudge- who, up until the slip, had still been laughing and hollering gleefully, having the time of her life, but was now _very_ anxious- into the air a little. That proved to be a serious problem because the magnets she was wearing, which were there to prevent her from falling off a car's hood/roof, came loose. Normally, she could easily reattach them. Only this time, she didn't have time. Lightning wasn't still going two hundred miles an hour (it was much too dangerous in those slippery conditions), but he was still going pretty fast. The speed was way too much for her to handle without the magnets. In under a second, she slid right off Lightning's roof with a blood/oil-curdling scream!

McQueen had seen what had happened, but it had all been far too fast for him to fully comprehend it all, yet alone react. He clipped her hard before she could hit the ground, sending the human girl flying. Fudge hit the tarmac hard. She rolled a couple of times, her shoe flying off, striking her in the face at tremendous force and her helmet cracking and leaving shards of plastic across the ground. Again, Lightning didn't have time to do anything- like I said, this all happened in under a second- so he drove right on top of Fudge, completely running her over!

Finally, everything that had just happened had sunk in for Lightning. His eyes widened as he tried to skid to a stop. He almost spun out of control again, but he didn't care. He only had one thing on his mind in that moment: that crumpled, unmoving figure, lying on the track several feet away from him.

"Fudge!" the race car exclaimed, horrified. He raced back to her; again, as fast as he dared. He had to hurry to see what kind of condition she was in, but he didn't want to hit her or run her over again. " **FUDGE!** "

There was no answer.

" **FUDGE! FUDGE!** " he screamed again, seeing and hearing that there was no sound or movement coming from the girl. Again, his calls were to no avail.

Cursing up a storm and more scared than he'd ever been in his entire life, Lightning approached the human girl that he saw as his little sister. Another flash of lightning pierced through the sky in what Lightning thought- but sure didn't _hope_ \- was a warning sign. He couldn't stop swearing to himself as he rolled up to her. McQueen peered at his sister to check the damage. It was all he could do to not throw up his pizza and ice cream and keep his balance. He was expecting the absolute worst...

 ***Waits for you to get your breath back* How was that? Are you still with me? Or do you all hate me? Please review. You know, if you've recovered from that.**


	5. Come Back to Me!

**So, today is exactly one year since I saw** ** _Cars 3_** **at the movies for the fifth and final time (I made jokes about how I'd already seen it four times, so I should've gotten the fifth for free! XD), so I figured today would be a good day to post the new chapter of** ** _Ride_** **. Besides, I couldn't leave you guys in suspense much longer!**

 **I apologise in advance if my medical knowledge is inaccurate. I've done a couple of first aid courses at school a few years ago and I've tried to apply some of what I remember from that into this chapter. However, I have very limited medical knowledge and researching has never been something I'm good at.**

 **Even if this is a spoiler, this is something that I want to make clear: I have** ** _zero_** **intentions of killing off Fudge (or any other characters). She doesn't exactly have an easy road ahead of her, but she will survive.**

 **Warning:** **This chapter has some implied swearing, but, as usual, they've been censored out.**

 **Chapter 5- Come Back to Me!**

Lightning McQueen had done a lot of racing in his time. With his _body_. However, he couldn't remember the last time his _mind_ had raced this much. Panicked thoughts on Fudge's condition were flying through his brain. He was trying to remember what Doc had taught him about first aid several years ago in a little course the Hudson Hornet had done for all of the townsfolk, but it wasn't easy to concentrate in his hysterical state.

"F**king s**t!" he exclaimed to himself, panicking. "S**t! S**t! S**t!"

 _Okay, okay!_ he told himself, trying to calm himself down. _Don't panic. You don't_ _even_ _know how bad it is yet. She could be fine. Just try and stay calm for Fudge's sake. If she sees_ _you upset,_ she'll _get upset too._

Although he wasn't expecting Fudge to just bounce back up after _that_ , Lightning knew that, like Sarge had said on New Year's Day, just days prior, Fudge was pretty tough when it came to pain. So, he managed not to panic as he approached her. Lightning checked her over. And _that's_ when his panic started up again. What he saw was so awful, he knew right away that he would never _ever_ be able to forget it.

Fudge's legs and neck were bent and twisted at the most horrific, unimaginable, _unnatural_ angles. In several places, there were bones sticking out. Blood was gushing out of quite a few places, including her mouth; it looked like a couple of teeth had been knocked out. The worst of the blood, though, was on her left leg. It looked like a deep gash running from her knee to her ankle and it had torn her pants leg right open. Her eyes were closed and she was unconscious. If not, then she was... McQueen didn't want to think about that. She didn't even look like she was asleep. She just looked lifeless.

"Motherf**king goddamn!" he groaned. "Damn, damn, **DAMMIT!** "

Remembering something that Doc had told him about first aid, he removed Fudge's helmet- or rather, what was _left_ of it- tossed it aside, not really caring where it went, and rolled the girl onto her side.

"Fudge!" he cried hysterically, trying to be gentle, yet firm as he began shaking her and squeezing her shoulders. "Fudge, can you hear me?!"

There was no response. Lightning felt sick. He was dizzy, he was shaking and he thought that he was literally going to throw up, but he tried to fight it.

"Fudge! Fudge! Open your eyes! _Please_! Fudge!"

Still nothing.

"Goddammit, Fudge!" the hysterical race car groaned as he placed his tyre in Fudge's limp hand. "Can you hear me?! Squeeze my tyre if you can hear me, Fudge! Fudge!"

No sound or movement came from Fudge, not even the smallest twitch. Tears were brimming in Lightning's eyes. This was _not_ looking good. He was confident that she was dead. No, no, no... This wasn't happening, this wasn't happening!

"Oh, Fudge..." he murmured softly as the tears in his eyes began to fall.

"I'll be right back!" he called to the unconscious tween, speeding off to grab his phone to dial a number that he never ever wanted to dial.

" _Nine-one-one. What's your emergency?_ "

"I need help!" Lightning babbled, sobs escaping from him. "It's my sister! She's twelve!" Trying and failing to stay calm, he blurted the words out as he told the operator what had happened and gave them information like their names and location. "She's unconscious! She's not moving! There's blood everywhere, bones sticking out! You gotta hurry! I'm really freaking out here!"

" _All right_ ", the operator told him evenly. " _The most important thing for you to do is_ _remain calm. An ambulance is already on its way. Now, is your sister breathing at all?_ "

"I... I don't know", he admitted. "I gotta check."

He listened carefully to see if he could hear breathing. It was a very difficult thing to do when it was competing with all of the noises around him. Howling winds, roaring thunder, crashing rain. He was sure that the weather had gotten worse since Fudge's initial fall. It was pretty hard, but he was confident that he could hear nothing coming from Fudge.

"No!" he cried, horrified. "No she's not!"

" _Stay calm_ ", the operator repeated. " _I need you to try and calm yourself down and pay very_ _close attention to me._ "

Then, after, following the operator's instructions, Lightning had cleared Fudge's airway of the blood and vomit that was in her mouth and she still wasn't breathing, it was, " _Okay. Now, you're going to have to administer CPR. Do you know how to do that?_ "

"Ye- yeah." Something else Doc had taught him, thank Chrysler. He could hear Doc's voice in his head, saying something he'd said while they were going through the CPR part of the first aid course. He'd called out to Lightning, "Pay attention, rookie! You might need this one day!" Now, Lightning would forever be grateful that he paid attention to Doc.

" _Thirty chest compressions followed by two breaths to the mouth_ ", the operator reminded him. " _Count them out loud. Don't stop until I tell you to stop or the paramedics arrive and_ _take over. You may break a couple of ribs, but don't worry about it. Just keep going._ "

"All right..."

McQueen didn't hesitate to obey the operator's instructions, counting thirty chest compressions out loud. He tried to ignore the rain beating down on him and focused on the task in front of him. He had no idea if this CPR was going to work, but, still, he had to try. Fudge was his little sister. He had to try and save her and he was willing to try just about anything to do it.

Lightning continued to give her CPR, but to no avail. Even so, he kept going, blocking out what he believed to be the worst of the storm. He could see, hear and feel himself break a couple of Fudge's ribs, but he paid no mind to that either. His mouth said the numbers one to thirty over and over again, only stopping to give her mouth to mouth in between each round of counting. But his mind only said, _Gone! She's gone! Gone, gone, gone! It's all my_ _fault! Why did I let her talk me into those last few laps?! I should've said no! I should've told_ _her we were going home! I should've... I should've... But_ _you_ didn't _!_ he scolded himself. _Now, because of you, Fudge is_ dead _! It's all your fault!_ He was crying harder than he could ever remember crying in all his adult life. Part of him felt, for many different reasons, like this was even worse than Doc's death. First of all, Doc had been unwell for a very long time. To some extent, he- well, everyone, really- had been prepared for it. Fudge, on the other tyre, had been in a freak accident. She had been taken from them with no warning.

And it was all his fault.

" **NOTHING'S HAPPENING!** " Lightning shrieked into the phone, his voice so hysterical that it didn't _sound_ like him. He'd been told to stay calm, but how _could_ he when Fudge was dead?

" _Just keep going_ ", the operator instructed him calmly.

So, he did. He wasn't expecting it all, but right when he put his lips up against hers, Fudge's eyes fluttered open. She was only half awake and she began to cry in soft whimpers.

Lightning experienced mixed emotions when she awoke. There was that initial relief that she had awoken and wasn't dead like he thought. So, he gave silent thanks to Doc once again for teaching him CPR. However, that didn't take long to turn into concern at the uncertainty of how long that would last, though. Where the hell _was_ that ambulance?! It had to be here soon, right? Since his lips were already right near hers, he moved in closer and gave her a kiss.

"Fudge, can you hear me?" He placed his tyre, which was now covered in blood, in her hand again. "Squeeze my tyre if you can hear me."

The poor girl must've been very weak and in a lot of pain, but McQueen was pretty sure he felt the smallest little squeeze.

"She's awake", the stock car reported to the operator.

" _Okay. You can stop CPR for now, but let me know if anything changes._ "

"I will", Lightning promised. After a pause, he added, while he was placing Fudge in the recovery position, "When's the ambulance gonna be here? I feel like it's taking a while."

" _They've been held up because of the weather_ ", the operator explained. " _They should be_ _there in about five minutes._ "

"Fan-f**king-tastic!" Lightning muttered sarcastically to himself. He wasn't sure if that would be fast enough, but there was nothing he could do about it. So, he didn't say anything to the operator. For a moment, he considered taking Fudge to the hospital himself (let's face it; he could get her there pretty damn fast), but then he thought the better of it; he didn't feel like taking any more risks that night, especially not with Fudge.

Besides, he got distracted. Just at that moment, he heard something. A string of sounds were coming from Fudge's mouth. He couldn't be one hundred per cent sure, but he thought that she was trying to say something.

"What is it, Fudge-O?" he questioned, coming in closer.

She tried to speak again- or, at least, made more sounds- but her brother still didn't understand.

"You're all right", he whispered soothingly. "You're all right."

That was when he caught sight of the gash on her leg yet again. It seemed to have gotten worse than the last time he really looked at it. Lightning had been so worried about her being unconscious that he hadn't had time to give that any attention. Hurriedly, he looked around to see if there was anything he could wrap around it to try and stop the bleeding a little bit. Her belt? No, he realised. That wasn't big enough. No way would that cover that giant cut. What about her jacket? Yes. That could work.

McQueen tried to be both quick and careful while he moved Fudge as much as he felt he could and _should_ \- which wasn't much- to try and remove her jacket. Luckily, he succeeded and commenced his task of wrapping it around his sister's leg as tight as he could, talking to her soothingly the whole time. Just as he was finishing up, Fudge spoke again. This time, despite how quiet and muffled her voice was and all the noise from the storm around them, he could figure out exactly what she said.

"It hurts so bad!" she whimpered.

Lightning stared at her sympathetically. He could tell that Fudge was in a _lot_ of pain. Her face was scrunched up and she couldn't move at all. She was still crying. So was he. "I know, I know! It's gonna be all right, Fudge-O", he assured her gently, kissing her bloody, bruised forehead repeatedly. Again, he was trying to stay calm for her sake, but that was next to impossible. "An ambulance is on its way. They're gonna take you to the hospital and take care of you." He took a breath. "You're gonna be fine." _I hope, I hope!_ he thought.

It was the next words out of Fudge's mouth that broke Lightning's heart. She gazed up at him with those tear-filled blue-grey eyes of hers and declared fearfully, "I don't wanna die."

McQueen felt his eyes sting with even more tears as he squeezed her hand. "You won't", he insisted to his sister, choking on the words. "All right? I _promise_ you."

Instantly, he wished he'd come up with something better to say. Something that was both helpful and truthful. It didn't matter, though. Before he could think of anything else to say, he heard screaming sirens in the distance, which were getting gradually louder. For a second, he felt relief until he remembered that the weather was bad. There could be a number of emergencies going on that would require police, fire or ambulance. But then, he saw the flashing lights pull up in front of the speedway.

"The ambulance is here", he informed her.

Fudge said nothing.

In under a minute, two humans- a man and a woman- emerged onto the asphalt track, carrying a stretcher. McQueen rushed forward to them.

"Yeah, she's here!" he told them, racing back to the girl.

"Okay", they responded.

The paramedics struggled to keep up with the race car, but still made it to Fudge quickly, kneeling down by her side to examine her and check for a response.

"How bad is it?" Lightning questioned anxiously, having reversed back to give them some room and looking on in fear.

"I'm not sure", the woman replied. "The broken bones and loss of blood are pretty bad. The trauma to the head is serious too. But crying is always a good sign. We're gonna take her to the hospital obviously and we'll see there."

Lightning nodded, trying to stop his crying. "Okay..."

Not only Lightning, but the two paramedics repeated comforting words to the twelve-year-old as they put a neck brace on her and loaded her onto a stretcher. She kept crying out in pain the whole time. By then, her jacket was removed from her leg and was tossed aside to lie abandoned on the track and get soaked by the rain along with her shoe.

"You're all right. You're all right", all three people around the girl assured her soothingly as her cries grew louder and more pain-filled to the point where they sounded like animal howls. Lightning couldn't believe it; he'd seen Fudge cry lots of times, but _never_ like _this_.

"Come on, Fudge-O", Lightning whispered as they started making their way back to the ambulance. "We're going to the hospital."

Again, she didn't answer; she just cried.

Lightning turned to the paramedics. "Can I stay with her?"

The male paramedic nodded. "Of course. For now, anyway. I imagine she'll need to go in for surgery when we get to the hospital, which you wouldn't be allowed to stay for. But you can come with us to the hospital."

McQueen nodded. By that point, they'd reached the ambulance and were placing Fudge inside. The other three got in after her and Fudge had an oxygen mask placed over her face and she was hooked up to an IV. "All right."

"All right, Percy!" the man called to the ambulance once all of that was done. "We're all set back here! Get us to the hospital!"

"On my way!" he responded as he took off, lights and sirens going again.

The ride to the hospital was torturous for Lightning. He didn't remember much of it. He just watched the paramedics treat Fudge, stopping the bleeding and trying to hold the broken bones in place. He didn't really want to be looking at what was going on; yet, he couldn't tear his eyes away, like a bad dream where he couldn't wake up. It was just so hard for him to watch.

The human girl drifted in and out of consciousness the whole way there. Even when her eyes were open, she didn't seem to understand what was going on and most of the time when she woke up, she would begin to cry.

"What's... What's that light?" she mumbled almost incoherently as she opened her eyes just a crack for about the fifth time.

"It's all right", one of the paramedics repeated. "We're going to the hospital, all right? We're nearly there."

"It's gonna be all right", Lightning piped up quietly.

"You... You're here..." Fudge mumbled.

"Yeah, I'm here." Lightning noticed that she didn't use his name. He wasn't sure if it was because she just didn't or she didn't know who he was in her current state. Either seemed very likely to him.

Fudge continued to mutter incomprehensibly for about a minute or so before she was out cold again.

Lightning had no idea how many times this happened. He also had no idea if she was going to be okay or not. _This is all my fault!_ he told himself again, hanging his hood guiltily. Outside, the rain was falling as fast as his tears.

* * *

Lightning was relieved when they arrived at the hospital. Although he was banished to the waiting area, he was just glad that Fudge was going to get the help she needed. The last he ever saw of her was several human doctors and nurses rushing towards the poor girl, who was lying on the gurney, still crying out in sheer agony and sobbing hysterically in more animals howls. One of the doctors had scissors and proceeded to cut off Fudge's yellow, blood-stained T-shirt. That was when a nurse pushed Lightning out of the way.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to wait outside, sir", she informed him and, with that, she closed the door. It was as final as that.

So, he did. He waited anxiously, eager for any news on his sister's condition. The stock car parked in the waiting area and tried to calm himself down. However, he overheard one of the doctors use a phrase that made his oil run cold.

"...notifying the next of kin", a doctor told someone. Lightning didn't even think he was talking about Fudge, but it made him remember something.

"Oh, my _God_!" he exclaimed out loud, suddenly feeling even more sick than he already did. _Luigi and Guido!_ This was the first time he'd thought of them during this whole ordeal! What were _they_ going to say? Fudge was their _daughter_! They were going to be absolutely _devastated_ when they found out!

Oh, God! How was he even going to _begin_ to explain this to them? How was he supposed to tell them that their daughter- the single most important thing in their lives- had been seriously injured in an accident that was _his_ fault?! And who was to say she'd survive?! By the time they arrived, she could already be dead! Maybe she was dead already! The thought made Lightning cry even harder.

He had no idea how long he parked there, crying his eyes out. He paid no heed to all of the other people in the waiting area, who were staring at him (they must have recognised him and were probably wondering what _the_ Lightning McQueen was doing at a hospital, sobbing like a child). All he could think about, all he _cared_ about, was Fudge. Would she be okay? What would the others say when they found out what had happened? Why did this have to happen? Why did he _let_ this happen?

"Fudge..." he whimpered. "Fudge, come back to me."

When he'd calmed down considerably and felt like he almost had no tears left to cry, Lightning got out his phone. Without thinking, he scrolled through his contacts and called the number of the one person, besides Fudge, that he wanted to talk to at the moment...

 **Wow! That was another pretty intense chapter, don't you think**

 **In case you didn't guess, the next chapter is where the rest of the RS gang find out about the accident. How will they take it? You'll find out next time in _Ride_!**


	6. The Call

**Chapter 6- The Call**

"Pick up, pick up, pick up!" Lightning cried into the phone, getting more and more desperate with each ring that came from the phone. Why was nobody answering?!

Right when he thought that he was going to lose his mind, he heard a click, indicating that someone had picked up the phone.

"Howdy there, buddy!" a familiar cheerful southern accent shouted into the phone.

Confusion took over Lightning's face at the sound of his best friend's voice. "Mater? What are you doing answering Sally's phone?" _Focus!_ the stock car told himself. _Fudge needs you!_ "You know what? Never mind", he rushed on before Mater could answer. He sure hoped that he didn't sound as upset as he felt. "Can you just put Sally on for me, please?"

"Sure, buddy!" the tow truck responded. If something sounded off in Lightning's voice, Mater didn't pick up on it. "I think she's over at Flo's. I was jus' on my way over there myself. I'd jus' been tractor tippin'- but don't tell Sheriff", he added hurriedly, "and then I was lookin' fer Miss Sally to see if she knew where you was. Then I heard her phone ringin' and I saw it was you callin', so I done answered it fer her."

"Thanks, Mater."

"Oh, man!" Mater exclaimed, laughing a little bit. "You shoulda been there when I went tractor tippin' tonight, buddy!" He recounted the story of his latest tractor tipping adventure, but Lightning wasn't listening at all. He was far too distracted by thoughts of Fudge and the night's events.

As he talked, Mater rolled down Main Street in Radiator Springs. The storm that had taken over the city hadn't reached the small town just yet. However, the dark clouds were just beginning to roll in. The storm was on its way. Mater wasn't particularly worried, though. He just rambled on and on, telling his best friend his tractor tipping story.

"McQueen? McQueen!"

Lightning was brought back to Earth by his best friend's impatient voice. "Sorry, buddy. I was distracted there for a second. What were you saying?"

"I said when was you comin' home?"

Lightning sighed. "I don't know, Mater. Something's just happened... Just... just let me talk to Sally, please." He could've told Mater then and there what was going on. But he didn't. It was Sally that he felt he had to talk to at that moment, Sally's voice he needed to hear. Even though Mater was his best friend and the reason he was upset was Luigi and Guido's daughter, he just felt that he couldn't talk to any of the others just yet. Sally. Only Sally.

"Aw right!" Mater agreed, seemingly unfazed by the "Something's just happened" part. "I'm at Flo's now." There was a series of muffled sounds coming from the other end. Lightning could hear the others talking and laughing. Everyone was probably in a good mood as they usually were at the end of the working day when they all gathered at Flo's. Oh, how he was about to destroy their good moods.

* * *

"Boot camp's going well", Sarge was happy to report to his friends that evening. "Had quite a few new recruits in the new year. Most of them have done well on the obstacle course today. Of course, there are always one or two that could do with some work."

"You always do well at the start of the year, honey", Flo commented with a laugh as she served everyone with oil. "Meanwhile, I'm sufferin' with everyone still on their diets."

"Give it a couple more days, baby!" Ramone told his wife, also laughing. "Then everyone'll give up the boot camp and get some grub off you!"

That got everyone laughing.

"Guido and I have been very busy too", Luigi remarked happily. "It is the new year, everyone wants to look good with new tyres. Business is-a good at Luigi's Casa Della Tires."

Guido smiled proudly. "Peet stop!"

"Yeah! And so's the love life, it seems!" Ramone added. "I saw you two flirtin' with those two pretty pink French cars!"

Luigi's eyes sparkled. "Ah, yes! Those angels!"

"You think this could go somewhere?" Sheriff asked them.

"Well, we have their phone numbers." The Fiat turned to the blue forklift beside him. "I want to call them! Do you want to call them, Guido?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Okay."

"Well, I got the same good business goin' on for me, man!" Ramone got back on topic. "Lots of cars wantin' new paint jobs to look good!"

"Yeah, and the diet thing's been good for me too, man", Fillmore chimed in. "I got so many cars comin' in for some of my organic fuel."

Sarge made a face, letting everyone know what he thought of that. Even before he gave his retort of, "Are you sure that it isn't cars whose New Year's resolution it is to poison themselves coming in?"

"Come on, Sarge!" Sally insisted. "Fillmore's organic fuel's not that bad."

Sarge glowered at the hippie van, who didn't say a word, but was smirking triumphantly.

* * *

At that moment, Mater came zooming up to the café. He didn't slow down and tore past all of his friends, knocking over several of their drinks, much to their annoyance.

"Hey!" Sarge yelled.

Guido let loose a string of angry Italian. Ramone did the same in Spanish.

"Mater!" Sheriff barked. "How many times have I told you not to race through here?!"

The tow truck paused to think about it, not realising that it was a rhetorical question. "I don't know." He thrust the phone at the Porsche, almost dropping it and breaking it. "Miss Sally! Phone for you! It's McQueen!"

"What were you doing answering my phone?" Sally questioned. Again, she spoke before Mater could. "Never mind." She took the phone from him. "Thank you, Mater... Hey, Stickers! What's up?"

Sarge glared at Fillmore again, returning to their conversation, now that the drama seemed over. "I will _never_ understand how anyone can _possibly_ drink that freak juice!"

"Well, Sally thinks it's not bad, man!" Fillmore pointed out. "And it hasn't put anyone in the hospital since 2009!"

"Yeah!" Sarge scoffed. "Put _that_ in the commercial!"

"Here comes the rain", Sheriff announced, taking note of the sudden change in weather in town and everyone looked to see that the squad car was right.

"Do you think this storm is going to be bad?" Luigi pondered.

"Probably not as bad as that storm back in 2004, man", Ramone commented.

"Oh, yeah", everyone recalled. That _had_ been a bad one.

"What?!" Lizzie asked, confused.

"Ah, yes!" Luigi chuckled. "Poor Fudgie was so scared during that one! She hid in her closet until Guido and I found her and gave her cuddles."

Everyone laughed, remembering Luigi telling them all that story nearly a decade ago.

"What about the time Mater said that the hail got so big, he was thrown into the air _and_ the hail hittin' the ground shook out his headlight?" an amused Sheriff added.

"Ah, yes!" Luigi repeated, still laughing. "He came back to town with only one headlight and when Doc asked him about it, he came up with _that_ crazy story!"

The tow truck shook his hood completely seriously. "It's a true story! It really happened! It did!" he added at the many sceptical faces around him. "I swear! I done flew so high in the air, I could see all the way to Crankshaft County!"

The utter ridiculousness of this statement got everyone laughing even more.

"Mater, where _do_ you come up with these stories, man?" Ramone wondered.

"Same place he came up with the stories about seein' a UFO and bein' a rock star and a private eye!" Sheriff teased, naming just a few of Mater's many tall tales.

Nobody could stop laughing.

"You guys!" Sally called out, waving a tyre to her friends. "I can't hear!"

"Oh! Sorry!" several of them replied.

The others still talked, but quietened down after that and were just in time to hear Sally ask, concern evident in her voice, "Hey... sweetie? What's wrong?"

All chatter and laughter stopped and Flo paused in her task of serving the others as everyone tried to hear what was going on. Immediately, they all became concerned as well. They knew by her tone of voice that Sally was _very_ worried and now, while they couldn't hear the actual _words_ that Lightning was saying, they could hear that he was _very_ upset.

"Uh-oh..." Sarge murmured.

"Oh, no!" Flo gasped softly.

"He didn't sound upset when I done spoke to him", Mater commented anxiously.

"Ssh!" Sheriff hissed, gesturing to Sally, who was still on the phone.

So, they all remained quiet in order to try and hear what was going on.

" _What_?!" Sally gasped after a pause. "Are you okay?!... You had Fu- Oh, you're _kidding_!... No. No, I know it was an accident... I didn't mean to sound like that, sweetie. I was just shocked, that's all. How... How long ago did this happen?" Another pause followed before Sally sighed and her voice became unnaturally quiet. "How bad is it?" As Lightning talked, Sally's eyes filled with tears and she got choked up. "Oh, God! Oh, God... Oh, God... This is just unbelievable! I... I... And they won't tell you anything?"

By then, Flo's was dead silent. The only sound being the gentle rainfall as the storm came in, but hadn't gotten too bad yet. All of the patrons were listening to Sally's end of the conversation fearfully, knowing that something was _very_ wrong. What could Lightning _possibly_ be telling Sally? Whatever it was, they knew it was serious.

"Oh, Stickers, _no_! No! Listen to me! This is _not_ your fault!" the Porsche insisted and her friends could tell she was trying to stay calm. "These things happen. I know it's sad, but they do. It's not your fault... Look, we're gonna come down there. Where are you?... Okay... Okay... I'll tell the others what's happened and we'll be there as soon as we can, okay?... I will... Okay... Okay. We'll see you soon... Thanks for telling me... Love you too... Bye."

Sally hung up and expected everyone to pounce on her, demanding to know what was going on. Yet nobody did. They all just stared at her anxiously, watching as tears poured down her hood, knowing that this did _not_ look good.

"Sally?" Sheriff ventured after a couple of seconds. He, like the others, didn't _want_ to know, but they all felt that they had to.

"Is something wrong with McQueen?" Ramone asked quietly.

Sally shook her hood and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She just couldn't look at Luigi and Guido as she announced just above a whisper, "No. It's Fudge..." She trailed off, sobbing.

Everyone froze. They had all assumed that something had been wrong with McQueen, or maybe even Francesco; after all, they were racing _together_. Something could've happened on the track to make Lightning feel guilty. Yet, not a single one of them had anticipated that the "something very wrong" would be with Fudge, especially not Luigi and Guido. The two Italians' eyes widened as their faces took on wounded looks. Immediately, worst case scenarios entered their brains. Was their daughter okay? What had happened to her?

"Fudge?" Sarge broke the silence. "Is she okay?"

"Do... Do you remember the other day when Lightning took Fudge for a couple of laps by Willy's Butte and she fell off his roof?" the Porsche quizzed the others. "And... and Luigi said he was worried because the next time, she might not be so lucky?"

Everything was quiet at Flo's before, but now, it seemed to get even quieter. The only sound was the rumbling of thunder as the storm worsened and everyone took this awful news in. Nobody said anything. They all knew exactly where this was going, but they didn't want it to be true. They all felt their oil run cold and their hearts skip several beats. Even Lizzie seemed to comprehend what Sally had just told them and was just as shocked as the rest of them.

" ** _WHAT_** **?!** " Luigi exploded, after taking a couple of seconds to take this in. He didn't believe it; he didn't _want_ to believe it! "No... No... No!"

"Are you serious?" everyone else gasped, trying to absorb this too-awful-for-words news.

Red burst into tears immediately, but nobody else did. All of them were far too much in shock. It just didn't feel real. It all felt way too horrible to be real.

Sally turned to Luigi and Guido, tears in her eyes. "He... he told me to tell you guys that he's sorry. He's really upset and he just feels _awful_ that this has happened."

Neither Guido nor Luigi answered. Both of them just looked dazed. Like they simply couldn't believe it. And that was exactly how they felt.

"Do we know how bad it is?" Sheriff wanted to know.

"No. Not yet. The doctors won't tell him anything. The actual accident only happened forty-five minutes ago, so she's still in surgery", Sally replied. sniffling. "But... but it sounds really bad. I think she's hurt pretty bad. Stickers had to give her CPR!"

Now, both Guido and Luigi looked just about ready to faint. As it was, Flo and Ramone practically had to keep them upright.

"Better get movin' then!" Sheriff declared. "What hospital is she at?"

Sally told him.

Sheriff didn't waste a second. He rolled down the road and switched his lights on. "I'll give you all a police escort there. That'll get us there a little quicker."

"It'll take three hours to get there, right?" Sally asked.

"Normally, yeah", Sarge answered, "but it's gonna take even longer in this weather! So, let's move out!" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the Jeep felt an extra pang of sadness. He knew what Fudge would say if she was there. Every single time she'd heard Sarge use that phrase, she'd have to reply, giggling, with, "Aw, but I _like_ my house!"

Nobody hesitated to obey. All of them- including Red and Lizzie- followed Sheriff down the road, still in shock. Nothing was said and very little was thought as they ventured into the storm, keeping as close to the lights and sirens as they could.

 _I can't believe this is happening!_ Sally thought to herself. She was the one who had spoken to Lightning and she didn't believe it! _Poor Stickers must feel terrible! Not to_ _mention_ Fudge _! I hope they're both okay!_ When she spoke to him, she just wanted nothing more than to be there with Lightning and give him a big hug.

Sheriff led the group down the winding roads on their way to the highway, which would take them to the city. He remained focused on only one thing: getting his friends and himself to the hospital as fast as possible. _Fudge needs us_ , he repeated in his mind. _Fudge_ _needs us._ He just hoped that they wouldn't be too late.

Most of the others were thinking the same thoughts. They were thinking things like how this was just unbelievable. How bad was Fudge's condition? Was she going to make it? The latter was a thought that they all attempted to banish from their minds. Yet, no matter how hard they tried, it always found its way back in.

Then there were Luigi and Guido. The fathers of the girl in question. For most of the drive to the hospital, they'd been far too in shock to really think or feel anything. However, when they were about halfway to the hospital, it sank in. They were on their way to see their _daughter_. In the _hospital_. They had no idea how bad it was, but knew it was very serious. Although, despite their fears, unlike the others, they highly doubted that Fudge was going to die. Fudge was their _daughter_! She was going to be fine. She _had_ to be. But they were both still afraid of what they were going to find at the hospital. At pretty much the same time, both of them started crying. None of the others could console them.

Well, their friends probably needed consoling themselves. They all cared so damn much about Fudge. She was like a niece to all of them, with the exception of Mater, who saw Fudge as his little sister like Lightning did. They were all worried about her.

"How much longer?!" a weepy Luigi quizzed Sheriff impatiently as they ventured into the city. By that point, they had to shout in order to be heard over the wind, rain and thunder. Although, not an awful lot of talking was going on, considering the circumstances.

"Hospital's still a couple miles away!" Sheriff reported, still staring straight ahead. It was hard to see a thing with the rain pelting him in the face, but he could see cars hurrying out of the way as he and the others came through. "Who _knows_ how much longer it's gonna take with _this_ damn weather?!" he groaned. "This traffic ain't helpin' either." Although he had his lights and sirens going, there was still a _lot_ of traffic their way.

Luigi was growing more and more anxious as time went on. So was everyone else.

However, Luigi was experiencing something else nobody else was: anger. All of a sudden, he found himself absolutely furious at Lightning. The race car had _promised_ he would look after Fudge! But he _didn't_! None of this would've ever happened if it wasn't for him! Because of Lightning, Fudge, Luigi's _daughter_ , was in the _hospital_! And it sounded pretty bad if she had to be given CPR! How could Lightning be so... so... _irresponsible_?!

"We're here!" Sheriff announced after about half an hour.

 _Thank Chrysler!_ everyone thought as they pulled up to the hospital. With the weather and traffic, it had taken them _way_ too long to get there. Now, they could focus entirely on Fudge. They just hoped that they weren't too late.

 **How was that? Sad, right?**

 **My personal favourite line is,** **"Well, Sally thinks it's not bad, man! And it hasn't put anyone in the hospital since 2009!" "Yeah! Put _that_ in the commercial!" BTW, the part about Mater losing his headlight is a reference to the _Cars Origins_ story, _Struck by Lightning_. You should definitely read it if you haven't done so already. I have that one and _Storm Chasing_ , but sadly not _Cruz Control_. I've been unable to find that one anywhere.**

 **I know I probably should've done both sides of the phone call, but the reason I didn't was because I wanted to focus on how nervous the others were, listening to Sally's side of the conversation, knowing that something was wrong, but not knowing what.**

 **I'm not sure when the next update will be, considering my friend wants to get something up first, which will make something in this story make a little more sense. For now, though, please review.**


	7. Waiting

**Okay. I know it's been a _long_ time, but like I've said, I promised my friend I'd wait to update this because I was using her OC in this chapter. However, I couldn't wait much longer, so I decided to split this up into two chapters. ****Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 7- Waiting**

Lightning McQueen was going insane. It had been quarter to ten when he called Sally's number and five past ten when he got off the phone with her. What time was it now? Ten past one in the morning. _Shouldn't they_ be _here by now?_ he wondered. If the others had left right away (and why _wouldn't_ they?), then they most definitely would be here by now, he decided. What was taking them so long?

You know what else should've happened by now? The doctors should've come out and told him what was going on! Once he got off the phone with Sally, he'd begged the receptionist to be able to see Fudge or at least know what was going on. However, he couldn't see her because she was still in surgery and the doctors wouldn't talk to anybody but family. He argued that she was his sister until he was crying too hard to speak and had to slip away from the reception desk. How long did surgery take? As a racer, he'd become familiar with lots of medical procedures on both himself and other racers. Yet none of them had ever taken _this_ long!

Then again, none of them had ever been this serious.

Even so, there wasn't an awful lot for him to do- or rather, an awful lot he _wanted_ to do- except pace back and forth impatiently, which did nothing to calm his nerves.

A young, kind nurse approached him at one point. "Mr. McQueen?"

"Ye- Yeah?" God! It was so hard to talk. He glanced up expectantly. A nurse! She must have news about Fudge!

Only the words that came out of her mouth had nothing to do with Fudge. They were, "Can I get you anything? Water? Coffee? Oil?"

Lightning shook his hood, trying to hide his disappointment as he managed to choke out the words, "No thanks." He felt much too sick to have a drink. Besides, he couldn't think about having a drink. Or anything else. How _could_ he?! His mind was racing. Where were his friends? He _needed_ them here! How was Fudge? Was she going to be okay? What if she wasn't? This was all his fault.

To make matters worse, at one point, a set of doors burst open and one of the doctors appeared. She was facing the opposite direction to Lightning, but he still recognised her as one of the doctors who had been working with Fudge. She shouted something out and, although she was panicking a bit, he could still decipher the words out of her mouth. Only he wished that he couldn't.

"We are _losing_ this patient in here!" she announced to a bunch of other doctors hysterically. "For the love of Chrysler! We need _help_!"

That prompted several doctors to rush into the room and for Lightning's tears to start up again. Cars and humans still fixed their eyes on him. Sometimes, he felt like screaming at them, " **STOP** **STARING AT ME!** " However, most of the time, he didn't care at all. He had bigger things to worry about. This was it. She was gone. Fudge was dead. It was all his fault.

It was then that Doc's words when Lightning had wanted to take Fudge out racing for the first time came to him.

"If somethin' happened to her- and it _will_ ; if you were to keep takin' her, it would only be a matter of time- I would never be able to forgive myself and neither would you."

He was right about every single part of that statement. Of course, in the past, there had been several bumps and bruises along the way, but this was the first serious incident that had occurred. Now, it seemed like Fudge was dead and whether she really was or not, Lightning knew he'd _never_ be able to forgive himself for _this_!

* * *

He was still crying his eyes out when he caught sight of his friends bursting through the hospital doors. Oh, God! This was it. His heart rate shot up. At first, he'd been kind of relieved that Sally had told them the bad news and not him, but now, he didn't know what to expect, as far as he was concerned. What were they gonna say? What were they gonna do? Would they be mad at him? Probably.

Luigi and Guido, it seemed, couldn't even wait for Sheriff to open the door. They practically shoved him out of the way and flung it open themselves with such tremendous force. Then the two of them raced up to the reception, ignoring both Sheriff and hospital staff reminding them of the speed limit. Neither of them even seemed to _hear_ in their state.

" **WHERE IS SHE?!** " Luigi demanded hysterically, tears stinging his eyes. " **WHERE'S MY** **DAUGHTER?!** " He tried to keep talking, but got all choked up and cried harder than any of his friends, even Guido, had ever seen him cry before. Next to him, Guido did the same.

Sheriff came forward and gave them a sympathetic glance before informing the startled receptionist, "We're family for Brittney Rossi-Topolino."

The receptionist- a red-haired woman in her fifties with huge glasses and a name tag that read SANDY- nodded. "All right. What's your relation?"

"These are her fathers", Sheriff explained.

"All right", the receptionist repeated. "Well, she's still in surgery at the moment, so why don't you have a seat and a doctor will come and see you as soon as possible."

Sheriff nodded. "Okay. Thanks." It was very difficult, but he managed to lead the two Italians away and when Luigi saw Lightning, he felt his oil boil.

" **WHAT HAVE YOU** ** _DONE_** **?!** " he exploded, trying to lunge for him, only to be held back.

Lightning was just sobbing as he repeated over and over again, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I am so sorry!" It was no secret that he felt terrible.

Luigi's eyes widened even more if that was even possible and he looked furious when he glanced down. "Is that _blood_ on your tyres?!" he shrieked hysterically.

Again, Lightning didn't answer more than more tears and a _lot_ of, "I'm sorrys."

While Luigi, Guido and Sheriff had been over at the reception, Sally and Mater had made a beeline towards the stock car to comfort him. Both were hugging him and whispering kind words, but it was no use. He was absolutely devastated. At the same time, Sheriff was doing the same thing with Luigi and Guido and they couldn't be consoled either.

Everyone else was watching in shock.

"Whoa! I've never seen Luigi and Guido so upset, man", Fillmore commented to the others, merely to break the silence. His normally-relaxed eyes were now wide and watery.

"Well, Fudge _is_ their daughter", Sarge pointed out. He sounded pretty choked up himself.

Nobody said anything for a long time.

"She's gonna be okay, right?" Ramone asked quietly after a while to end the silence.

Nobody answered for a couple of moments.

"I don't know", Sarge replied with a sigh.

"She's been in surgery for a while", Flo commented nervously.

"It probably ain't good, then", Ramone sighed sadly.

"Well, we don't know anything at the moment", Sarge reminded them, trying to stay calm. "We're just gonna have to wait and see."

* * *

"How you feelin'?" Sheriff quizzed Luigi at one point when his sobs had subsided a little bit.

The Fiat stared at him as if he'd just lost his mind. "How do you _think_ I am feeling?!"

"It's gonna be okay", the squad car assured him.

" _How_?!" Luigi demanded. "How is it going to be okay?! My daughter is in the hospital... It does not sound good... It is all _his_ fault! And I.. I just want to be with her."

"I know."

* * *

"Are you okay, Stickers?" Sally asked her boyfriend at a different point.

" **NO, I'M** ** _NOT_** **OKAY, SALLY!** " he exploded. The others, who were all nearby, and several random people in the lounge jumped at his outburst. "This is all my fault!"

"No it's not!" Sally insisted. "It was an accident! Accidents happen."

"Yeah, but look at what it's done to poor Fudge!" Lightning shouted. "I am so sorry! This is all my fault! I'm sorry!"

"Stickers-" Sally started.

"He is right", Luigi cut in coldly.

Sally turned to stare at the Italian car. "What?"

"I _trusted_ McQueen with my daughter and look what happened!" The Fiat's voice was rising.

"Luigi-" Sally began gently.

"How could you?!" Luigi demanded, ignoring Sally. He rolled closer to Lightning. Everyone watched fearfully. He was _really_ getting angry. "How _could_ you?! You hurt my daughter! You put her in the _hospital_!"

"Luigi, you _know_ I love Fudge!" McQueen insisted. "I would _never_ intentionally hurt her!"

"What about that time you pushed her into a wall?!" Luigi retorted.

The stock car's face flushed. That was on his very first day in Radiator Springs. Fudge had been annoying him while he was trying to fix the road. So, he pushed her, only for her to stumble backwards and smash her head up against a brick wall. Lightning remembered that vividly and it was most definitely not one of his proudest moments. Fudge, who was only five years old at the time, had screamed and cried. There was a lot of blood. Doc had to give her stitches, which prompted even _more_ screaming and crying. And, for the rest of the day, Fudge would give Lightning a death stare every time she caught him looking at her.

"Yeah, well, I was an idiot back then!" Lightning countered through his tears of shame. Tonight, he'd been an idiot _again_! "I've changed since then! You _know_ I have!"

"I _thought_ you had!" Luigi snapped.

"What? You think I _wanted_ to hurt Fudge?!"

"None of this would have happened if you were looking after her like you _said_ you would! You are a _liar_!" Luigi lunged forward yet again, swearing in Italian.

Up until this point, everyone else had been anxious spectators. However, it was time for action if they didn't want the situation to escalate. They all knew how much Fudge meant to Luigi. Who _knows_ what he would do if they didn't stop him?

"Luigi!" Guido exclaimed, trying to grab hold of his best friend.

"Luigi!" Sheriff also grabbed hold of him and pulled him back. "I know you're upset right now and you got every right to be, but you gotta calm down! You're overreactin'!" He sighed sympathetically and added softly after a pause, "This ain't gonna help Fudge."

The Fiat's eyes swam with tears as he took a shaky, deep breath. He knew that Sheriff was right. "Fine!" he huffed. He gave Lightning the coldest look he could possibly muster, but left him alone after that. Although, they all knew that Luigi's anger was far from over.

"Luigi, I'm _sorry_!" Lightning insisted, tears streaming down his hood, but Luigi didn't answer.

Lightning sighed. The others looked back and forth between him and Luigi with sympathy. Then, it was back to what they'd been doing before. Waiting. Crying. Comforting each other. Pacing. Listening to "Fix You" by Coldplay on the radio. The only new activity was taking in the shock from Luigi's anger.

 **So, there you go. I don't know when my next update will be, but given how long it's been, I felt like I had to give you something.**

 **Just a quick heads-up. There seem to be a lot of conveniently placed radios in the story. It was the only way I could think to incorporate songs I felt fitted the scenes.**

 **Don't get too excited for the next update, though because it won't be very long. However, in the next chapter, we do find out how Fudge is.**

 **Till then, Fudge! :)**


	8. How is She?

**Did you think I'd forgotten this story? Well, I hadn't. I can't leave you wondering how Fudge is for too long. I've had quite a few people ask me about this story recently and by _quite a few_ , I mean two! XD**

 **Chapter 8- How is She?**

Right when everyone was about to go insane, a doctor emerged from the surgery area and asked over the last notes of "Fix You", "Family for Brittney Rossi-Topolino?"

Immediately, she had the entire RS gang's attention. All of them forgot about Luigi's outburst and rushed forward, practically trampling on one another, eager to hear about how their daughter/sister/niece was.

"How is she?!" Luigi demanded anxiously.

"The surgery's all done", she explained to them. "For now, anyway."

"So, she's gonna be okay?" Mater asked hopefully. He didn't _completely_ understand.

The doctor paused. "It looked like we were going to lose her a couple of times during the surgery", she reported ruefully, aiming all of her comments at Guido and Luigi as she wasn't technically allowed to talk to anybody else, "but your daughter is one tough cookie. She's hanging in there. She's currently in a critical condition. We've put her in the intensive care unit and she's currently in an induced coma on life support."

"How bad is she hurt?" Luigi questioned nervously. "What are her injuries?"

The doctor went on to explain what injuries Fudge had received as a result of the accident, which were swellings, bruises, broken bones (which were, from the top down: her neck, right collarbone, left elbow, right wrist, three fingers on her right hand, several ribs, a smashed pelvis and two badly broken legs with two shattered knees), most of which required rods and screws; severe swelling and bruising to her back; concussion; punctured lung and some blood loss.

The cars from Radiator Springs grew more and more upset as the list went on.

"Oh, no!" Luigi murmured softly at the end of it all. Both he and Guido looked ready to faint again. "Oh, my poor little angel."

"One more thing", the doctor added. "We found this in your daughter's pocket." She gave Luigi a little plastic bag with several pieces of an electronic device inside. It was Fudge's iPod. It was smashed beyond repair.

Luigi took the bag and stared at the contents as if he didn't understand. Then his tears started up again.

Flo gave him a hug as he sobbed loudly. "It's gonna be okay, honey", she assured him, but he didn't look convinced at all. Neither did she, for that matter.

Lightning turned to them once again with tears in his eyes. "I'm _really_ sorry, guys!"

"Oh, be quiet!" Luigi snapped, making everyone, even the doctor, jump.

Guido sniffled and told McQueen, "These thing... they happen."

Luigi looked at the forklift as if he was crazy. It was the exact same look he had given Sheriff a couple of hours ago.

Their moods worsened even more as the doctor added, "At the moment, we're not sure if she'll ever recover. Or what kind of quality of life she'll have if she does. However, I've seen patients make remarkable recoveries from this kind of thing. It's too early to tell right now." There was another pause. "Like I said, she's currently in a coma and there's nothing you can do for her right now... Which is why I suggest you all go home and get some rest."

"When can I see her?!" Luigi demanded.

"I'm not sure just yet", the doctor replied. "Definitely not now, though. Perhaps in the morning. So, go home and get some rest", she repeated.

Not one of them wanted to leave Fudge, but they didn't have much of a choice.

"I can't leave!" Luigi insisted, trying to move away from the others and stay rooted to one spot. "This is my _daughter_ we are talking about! There is nothing I can do at home!"

"There's nothin' you can do here either", Sheriff pointed out. "Come on. We're goin' home."

"I can wait here!" the Fiat argued. "What if something happens?"

"Like what?" Sheriff quizzed him as he attempted to lead the Italian car to the exit.

"I don't know..." Luigi admitted. "But if her condition changes..."

Sheriff raised an eye frame. "Luigi."

The Fiat sighed in defeat. Without another word, he followed Sheriff and the rest of his friends back to Radiator Springs. He still felt like he should stay at the hospital to be with his daughter. But he knew that this was one argument that he couldn't win. It seemed like he couldn't win at all today.

* * *

The storm had stopped by the time they were on their way home. Now, it was just wet and gloomy. Nobody said anything. Just cried. Of course, they were all upset. Lightning and Luigi were mad at each other. Fudge was in a coma. Nothing could make this worse.

Bleak sunlight greeted the cars from Radiator Springs when they arrived in the small town. It almost looked like the sun was mourning too. Most of the residents went home, but a couple of them went over to Flo's. Sheriff joined Luigi and Guido in Casa Della Tires to make sure they were all right. Even though it was blatantly obvious that they weren't.

Meanwhile, over at the Cozy Cone, Sally was doing the same thing to Lightning. The first thing the stock car had done when he returned home was start drinking.

"Stickers? I really don't think you should be-" Sally began pleadingly.

She sighed and stopped short when she realised that her boyfriend wasn't even listening. He was too distracted by the alcohol. She didn't say anything else. It seemed pointless. Besides, looking over at him, did she, too, want to join him in drowning their troubles in liquor? Yes. Yes she did.

Lightning wanted to forget. Forget what he had done to Fudge. Forget that she was fighting for her life in hospital. Forget that it was all his fault. He wasn't crying anymore. He wasn't doing anything. Except drinking. And pretty soon, he wasn't able to think or feel anything either. That was just what he wanted if he couldn't have Fudge.

* * *

Things weren't much better at Casa Della Tires. Luigi and Guido entered with Sheriff and found a message waiting for them on their answering machine, which was informing them of Fudge's accident.

" _I'm calling for Luigi Topolino_ ", the hospital receptionist explained once she'd identified herself and the hospital she was calling for. " _We have him listed here as the emergency_ _contact for Brittney Rossi-Topolino and I am calling to inform him that she has been_ _involved_ _in an_ _accident_..."

The message went on a little bit more, but Luigi and Guido had both tuned out by then. They absolutely did not care to hear anymore.

They must've received that call from the hospital while they were still at Flo's. That was why they'd had to hear the awful news from Sally. It really didn't matter to them how they heard it. They felt sorry for Sally, though; being given the terrible burden of telling them that their _daughter_ was in a critical condition in hospital.

Well, none of this would've ever happened- Fudge wouldn't be critically injured and they wouldn't be experiencing this... _unbelievable pain_ \- if McQueen hadn't been so reckless!

It made Luigi's oil boil just thinking about it! McQueen had promised that he would take care of his daughter! And what had happened?! _This_! Luigi didn't feel like he could talk to Lightning now or ever again! How could he _ever_ forgive his so-called friend for what he had put his daughter through?

Guido was just as devastated, but he didn't blame Lightning. He was just far too concerned about his daughter to point any tyres at anybody over the incident. The little forklift didn't really care about who or what had caused Fudge's accident. He wanted nothing more than to have her come home and move on with life. But it looked like that wasn't going to happen. Not for a _long_ time.

Casa Della Tires felt empty and quiet. Sure, Luigi and Guido were there and so was Sheriff to make sure they were okay. But Fudge wasn't. Twelve and a half years ago, she had brought this place to life. Now, she was gone. And they had no idea whether or not she was coming back.

What if she didn't? Both Italians had the same thought at around the same time. Neither of them had _wanted_ to think about it, but the possibility was very real. There was a very good chance that Fudge wouldn't survive. How empty and quiet would this place feel then? If it was like this from now on, neither of them would be able to bear it.

Everything in Casa Della Tires reminded Luigi and Guido of Fudge. And _that_ reminded them of what had happened to her. It was just horrible. In fact, to try and stop himself from going insane, Luigi had to close Fudge's bedroom door. It didn't help, but it was a start. But how were they supposed to go to sleep tonight? Luigi and Fudge shared a wall and even had an inside door connecting their rooms (until Fudge was three years old, she shared Guido's room and that had been Luigi's office). Every night, he would be able to hear her sleeping. But, of course, tonight, he wouldn't. Finally, they both decided that the only thing that would prevent them from losing their minds was leaving. They couldn't stay at home. Not without Fudge. So, they decided to join their friends at Flo's. Sheriff followed.

Most of the town's residents were over at Flo's, but the café was just as quiet as the Cozy Cone and Casa Della Tires. Although, when Luigi, Guido and Sheriff pulled up, everyone greeted them quietly.

"How are you feeling?" Sarge asked, confident that he already knew the answer.

Luigi sighed. He hadn't cried for a couple of hours now, because he felt like he had no tears left, but he still felt terrible. "Like this is a bad dream and I am going to wake up soon."

His friends nodded understandingly. Nobody said anything for a while.

"Luigi? Can I get you anything, honey?" Flo offered.

He shook his hood. "No thank you."

"Guido?"

The little forklift didn't want anything either.

Luigi sighed. "Guido and I are going back to the hospital in about an hour", he reported.

"Will you call and let us know what's going on?" Flo questioned.

The Fiat nodded. "Of course." He paused. "I just can't believe that this has happened! This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me! I don't even want to know what it is like for Fudge!" Another pause followed. "This is all McQueen's fault!"

"Luigi-" Sheriff began.

"It _is_!" he insisted bitterly, his eyes filling with tears.

"Luigi", Sally piped up, having just arrived at Flo's, "Lightning told me what happened. Really. It was just an accident."

" **AN ACCIDENT THAT COULD HAVE KILLED MY DAUGHTER!** " the Fiat insisted. " **AND WE** **DON'T KNOW THAT IT HAS NOT!** "

Yet another uncomfortable silence followed.

"How... How _is_ McQueen?" Sheriff quizzed Sally.

"He's really drunk right now", the Porsche reported.

"I don't blame him", Sarge commented sadly.

Luigi looked bitter as his friends discussed his former friend. "Neither do I. _I_ would be drunk too if I was him. If I had done what he had done."

"Luigi, please don't blame McQueen, man!" Fillmore spoke up. "How would _you_ be feelin' right now if you were him?"

"I would not be able to live with myself", he responded.

"Well, I better get back to Lightning", Sally announced with a sigh. "I just came to see how Luigi and Guido were."

"We are fine", Luigi responded coolly. "We should go too, Guido", he added. "We need to go back to the hospital to be with our _daughter_."

"Okay", Guido agreed, sounding much more solemn and gloomy than usual.

* * *

The drive to the hospital was a very quiet affair. Only Guido and Luigi went to the hospital on this occasion. They had been informed that only family could go in and see her at this point (and they were still very strict about _that_ , considering that she was in intensive care) and, despite the RS gang insisting that they were all her family, that was limited to Luigi and Guido. However, not even _they_ could go and see her for very long. They had a very strict time limit. And neither of them felt like talking much.

On the exterior, they seemed a lot calmer than the first time they entered the hospital when they rolled in and spoke to Sandy the receptionist. She told them that Fudge was in Room 617 and they could go straight in.

"The doctors should be done with their tests by now", she added.

" _Grazie_ ", they responded in unison.

However, on the interior, they were still _very_ afraid. They hadn't seen Fudge since she left Radiator Springs over twenty-four hours ago. Before the accident. They had no idea what she looked like now and they were reluctant to find out. However, they both knew that they had to be there with their daughter.

613... 614... 615... 616... There it was! Room 617. This was Fudge's room. No doubt about it. Not just because the receptionist had told them that that was her room, but also because it said "Brittney Rossi-Topolino" by the door. Both Luigi and Guido paused outside the door. Did they really want to go in? No. Not at all. But they had to. This was _Fudge_ they were talking about. Their _daughter_. Reluctantly, they opened the door just a crack...

Fudge, their _daughter_ , was lying there. Only it didn't _look_ like their daughter (even so, they knew it was her; not only because of the sign by the door, but because of parental instincts). It just looked like a random, lifeless person in a hospital gown, covered in plaster casts and braces and hooked up to several machines as well as the IV. The only sounds that came from within the room were Fudge's quiet breathing through the oxygen mask strapped across her face and the slow beeps of the heart rate monitor. It was pretty horrible seeing her like that. Yet, she needed them and so, they stayed.

"No change just yet", a nurse reported ruefully as the doctors left after doing some tests. "We're just going to have to wait."

"Do you think she is going to be okay?" Luigi questioned nervously, rolling closer to his daughter tentatively.

"Hard to say", the nurse answered. "I've dealt with this kind of thing before. Sometimes, they recover; sometimes, they don't. It all depends." She paused. "I will say this, though: Brittney definitely would've been killed instantly if she hadn't been wearing a helmet. So, thank Chrysler for _that_."

Neither Luigi nor Guido was sure how to respond to that.

* * *

Not an awful lot happened that day. They just stayed by their daughter's side, talking to her gently as much as they could (they had to leave when the doctors were doing their tests on Fudge and giving her her medication). They talked to her about what had happened in Radiator Springs since she was last there, read to her from some books and magazines they'd found.

"Luigi will have to get some of your books from home", he informed her, trying to laugh, which wasn't easy, given the circumstances. "So he does not have to bore you with these ones. I promise I will bring some of your favourite things with me the next time I visit you. That way, you will feel more at home here."

However, they couldn't stay all day. They had to leave when for the day before a doctor could come in and assess their daughter. They hated it. No way did they want to leave her, but even so, they were very much comforted by what the nurse had told them about this doctor.

"She's one of the best in the country."

So, reluctantly, Luigi and Guido kissed their daughter and rolled out of her hospital room. As promised, they called their friends back home in Radiator Springs. They didn't have much to say since there was no change in her condition. So, they just gave them an update, hung up quickly and made their way home.

* * *

"Are you okay, Stickers?" Sally asked at one point. He was very quiet now. He'd spent most of the afternoon belting out "Our Town" at the top of his lungs. However, she hadn't heard anything from him for about twenty minutes.

"Yeah... No!" he slurred. "I... I don't know, Sally... I'm just... I'm just thinking about Fudge..."

"Stickers-" Sally began.

"No! Sally... Don't... don't worry about me! I'm fine, I'm _fine_!"

"No, you're not!" she insisted. "Stickers, I'm worried about you."

"And _I'm_ worried about Fudge!" he argued. "Did... did you hear that it's on TV now?"

Sally did hear. Somehow, Fudge's accident had not only made the news, but it was breaking news. And it seemed like it was not only breaking news, but _international_ breaking news. Everyone was talking about it. So, as a result, she and the rest of the RS gang had been receiving calls from just about everyone they knew. Cal and the rest of the Weathers family; Bobby; Brick Yardley; Francesco, who was especially in shock, considering he saw Fudge only a couple of hours before it happened; several other racing buddies from both the World Grand Prix and Piston Cup; Mack; Finn, Holley and Sammy, though, they couldn't talk much since they were leaving for a mission; Rusty and Dusty. Pretty much all of the conversations sounded the same and went something like this:

Person A (whoever was calling): I just want to let you know I know what's happened... You guys must feel awful... How's Fudge?

Person B (whichever Radiator Springs resident answered): We're not sure at the moment. She's in a critical condition at the moment and in an induced coma. *Then they would go on to describe the injuries she'd received* But we haven't been in to see her yet. It's only family right now.

Person A: Well, how are _you_ feeling? And how are Luigi and Guido?

Person B: About as well as you can expect. We still can't believe this has happened.

Person A: I know... Well, please let me know if there's anything I can do. I'll be thinking about you.

There was occasionally a couple more exchanges like where they could send flowers and get-well cards and how McQueen was. Things like that. Then they would hang up. This had been going on for the entire afternoon ever since the story made the news.

* * *

When Luigi and Guido returned home, everyone gave them space. Nobody was surprised to see that they were both in tears. Without saying a word to anybody, they rolled off back to Casa Della Tires...

Only to feel themselves going insane again. Somehow, the fact that it was now night time made their home feel even quieter and emptier without Fudge. She wasn't fast asleep in her room. They couldn't hear her breathing. All the thoughts of how horrible it was without their daughter and the fear of her never coming back rushed back to both of them.

So, it wasn't long before they were back at Flo's.

"It is just so quiet at home!" Luigi explained, sniffling. "Everything reminds me of Fudge! We just can't stay there!"

"I know, honey", Flo sympathised. "I know it's hard. But you can't stay here forever."

Everyone, even Luigi and Guido themselves, knew that. Even so, they just couldn't bring themselves to go home without their daughter. So, they spent that first Fudge-less night (well, technically, second, but they'd been at the hospital for the first) at Flo's, just parked there silently. It was going to be a long night.

 **Easter** **Egg: Fudge's hospital room (Room 617) is a reference to 2006, 2011 and 2017, the years each of the _Cars_ movies were released!**

 **In the meantime, please review!**


	9. As Time Goes By

**If you've been reading my other works, you'll know that I've been unsure of what to do with this story after I made a reveal I was supposed to in this story in a story called _Guns and Roses_. (If you haven't read it yet, please do! It's a pretty important two-shot!) After much consideration, I have decided to continue with this story, but make some changes. That way, I don't conflict with Guns and Roses. _Plus_ , I can update a little more regularly (therefore, I may put _Driven to Win_ on hiatus for the time being, unless you guys _really_ want me to continue with that simultaneously). So, some stuff will be different to the original plan. I apologise for that, but I hope you will still enjoy.**

 **Chapter 9- As Time Goes By**

"Sally?"

The Porsche turned around at the sound of her name at about eight o'clock the following morning. "Stickers? Are you okay?"

"No..." he groaned. "I... I feel terrible."

"I'm not surprised!" she chuckled. "You spent all day yesterday drinking!"

"Never done that before", he remarked. "Why did I do _that_?!"

Sally hesitated. "You don't remember?"

Lightning thought for a moment, confused, before the awful memories came rushing back to him. "Fudge!" he exclaimed, horrified. "How... How is she?"

"No news yet, Lightning", Sally reported ruefully. She almost never called her boyfriend Lightning. It was normally only when she _really_ wanted him to listen to her. "Nothing yet."

"Have you seen her?"

"Not yet", the Porsche replied. "Only family's allowed to see her at the moment, so only Luigi and Guido have seen her."

A pause followed.

"People have been calling", Sally informed her boyfriend. "Cal, Bobby, Rusty and Dusty, Mack. They heard about what happened and they were asking how you were."

"I'll call them back later", Lightning responded half-heartedly.

But Sally wasn't sure that he was going to do that. "Well, we should probably get over to Flo's now."

McQueen sighed. "Luigi's still mad at me, isn't he?"

"He was the last time I saw him", Sally admitted, "but that was yesterday. He might not be anymore. He's had over twenty-four hours to absorb the shock."

"He probably will be, though."

* * *

Sally didn't have a response to that, but it didn't matter because they got their response when they arrived at Flo's.

After greeting Sally relatively warmly, Luigi gave Lightning a death stare. "You."

"Luigi, please don't start this again!" Sally pleaded.

The yellow Fiat didn't say anything. He was still mad at McQueen for what had happened, but it seemed pointless to argue with everything else that was going on. He just pretended to be absorbed in his oil.

"How _are_ you, McQueen?" Fillmore questioned sympathetically.

The stock car shrugged. "I've been better", he answered. "I still can't believe this has happened." He groaned. "My hood is killing me!" Only, he regretted his choice of words instantly.

"Maybe it will not just be your hood!" Luigi remarked coldly.

The mood at Flo's was pretty frosty after that. While they all understood why Luigi was angry at Lightning, nobody else blamed Lightning for what happened, except Lightning himself. Not even Guido was angry at him. Like I said, as far as Guido was concerned, pointing tyres wasn't going to do any good now. He just wanted his baby girl to get better.

Everyone just went back to their oil in silence. The only time any sound came from there was when Lizzie decided to put the radio on. Everyone else stared at her, thinking that it wasn't right for them to be listening to music when Fudge was in the hospital. It seemed kind of funny to Lightning, but the song that was on just so happened to be "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette.

Was it really only two days ago that McQueen was listening to that song and singing it with Fudge? It felt like a million years ago.

Sally had been about to turn the radio off when Lightning reached out to stop her.

"No!" he whispered softly. "Let it play! For the love of God, _let it play_."

The others all gave him an odd look. With the exception of Sally, none of them knew the song and didn't know why Lightning would want to listen to it at this point. Or _any_ song, really. However, they all listened to the song. Sadness took over all of them when the song talked about life having a funny way of sneaking up on you when you think everything's okay, feeling like that was exactly what was going on now.

When the song came to an end and "What a Feeling" by Irene Cara started up, Lightning switched the radio off and everything went silent.

* * *

That day, the next few days and even _weeks_ after it weren't much easier for the RS gang. They soon found themselves in a new routine. It wasn't one that they enjoyed or wanted to get used to.

At sunrise, everyone would be lying awake in their respective homes silently. Not even Sarge and Fillmore weren't making any noise. And it was obvious that something was wrong when Sarge and Fillmore weren't going through their usual morning routine. The last time that happened, apart from when they were out of town, was right after Doc died.

Sunrise would pass and they would all meet up at Flo's shortly after. Flo would hand out drinks to everyone and nobody felt much like drinking, but they knew they had to try.

The only one who wasn't always upset was Lizzie and that was because she didn't always understand what was going on. "Why's everyone so upset?!" she would ask. Then when she was reminded gently that Fudge wasn't there, it was, "Oh, Fudge'll be here any minute now. She's never _too_ far away."

Things would always be quiet and sombre at Flo's, but as soon as both Lightning and Luigi were there, things would get very tense. No words were ever exchanged between the two of them, but every now and then, they would give each other cold glares.

"Come on, Guido", Luigi would announce after a while when he was sick of giving Lightning death stares. "We are going to the hospital."

"Okay", Guido would agree, abandoning his oil can, which was never completely drunk.

"Kin we come?" Mater had asked hopefully on that first day. Even though he understood what had happened to Fudge, he was completely clueless on what her condition was. He didn't understand any of the medical terms that were being thrown around.

"Mater, we can't see her yet", Sheriff had pointed out gently.

"Why not?"

"Only family's allowed to see her at the moment."

"Yeah, but we _is_ her family!" the tow truck had protested.

Sheriff couldn't help chuckling a little bit. "Yeah, but not to the doctors, we ain't."

"You can come to the hospital", Luigi had informed his friends, "but you won't be allowed to see Fudge just yet."

"Well, it sure is better than waitin' around here all day", Flo had declared. "We'll be right there if you wanna tell us what's goin' on."

"Yeah!" everyone else had agreed.

"Okay", Luigi agreed, knowing that this was the least of his worries.

So, they all joined him and Guido on their trip to the hospital on that first day. Sometimes, the entire RS gang would come, sometimes they wouldn't (and if Lightning stayed behind, he would often get _very_ drunk), feeling that it would be best if they stayed behind to keep the town running somewhat normally (Sarge and Fillmore were taking care of the tyre shop as well as each of their own stores). Although they were banished to the waiting area, they seemed to be okay, knowing that they were closer to Fudge there. Only Luigi and Guido were allowed in the room to see their daughter.

* * *

" _Buon giorno_ , Fudgie", Luigi whispered every morning as he entered the room.

" _Buon giorno_!" Guido added, trying to sound a _lot_ more perky than he felt.

It was almost as if they expected her to open her eyes, jump up in a whirl of energy, smile and exclaim, " _Buon giorno_!" brightly. But, of course, she didn't. Fudge was lying there, eyes closed, just as still and silent as she had been the day before. Still, Guido and Luigi talked to her soothingly about anything and everything and sang to her gently since she had always loved it when they sang to her. And if they weren't singing or talking, they would put the TV on for her or let her listen to Lightning's iPod (since hers was smashed beyond repair in the accident) through headphones. Occasionally, they would get interrupted by a doctor or nurse, but as they had all of the noise going on around her, Luigi and Guido often did tasks to take care of Fudge like brushing her hair. They also placed the flowers, balloons, get-well cards and the like that were flooding in (there really was a _lot_ because not only did they come from close friends and relatives, but Lightning McQueen's fans as well) around the room.

"This one is from Cal", the two Italians would inform their unconscious daughter. "And you have another card here from Rusty and Dusty..."

They went on like that and would read her cards aloud as if she was awake and listening to them. It was so painful. All they wanted was for her to wake up.

Meanwhile, not a lot was going on with the rest of the RS gang; they hung around in the waiting area, mostly in silence. Every so often, someone would make a comment or ask a question, merely to fill the silence or get up to get something to eat or drink. Every now and then, Luigi and Guido would appear, having been kicked out of the room for a while due to the time restrictions. Normally, this happened when a doctor came in to do some more tests. Not knowing where else to go, they joined their friends and would shake their hoods at them, answering their unvoiced questions.

"Nothing yet", they reported quietly.

Everyone would sigh, disappointed. Nobody would be more upset than Lightning. His eyes would fill with tears every time he was informed that there was no news.

"Stickers?" Sally asked, concerned.

"I'll... I'll be fine!" he assured her hurriedly.

Luigi would give him a hard glare before rolling off to go back to his daughter.

McQueen sighed. "How long do you think he's gonna be mad at me?"

It was Sally's turn to sigh. "I don't know, Lightning. He's just really upset right now. He'll come around."

"I know... I don't blame him."

"Stickers!" Sally repeated. "What happened to Fudge was _not_ your fault! It was just an accident! No one else blames you except for yourself!"

"What about Luigi?"

"I don't think he really _does_ blame you, soldier", Sarge voiced his opinion. "Like Sally said, he's just very upset right now."

Lightning nodded, but he didn't look convinced.

* * *

Every night at eight o'clock, Luigi and Guido would feel that it was time to go. If the others hadn't accompanied them that day, they would call them first to give them the latest news (or, rather, the lack thereof) and if they had, they would find them in the lounge and announce that they were leaving. They didn't always go back home, though, sometimes, instead choosing to stay in the hotel down the street from the hospital. That way, they could not only avoid seeing and going past Fudge's empty, quiet bedroom, but also return as soon as possible in the morning.

The drive home- if they returned to town- was always a very quiet affair. Not only would they be upset, they'd be tired. Even though they hadn't done an awful lot, it was the emotional pain they were experiencing over Fudge's accident that took a lot out of them.

However, they didn't go home and get some sleep immediately. They would all stay over at Flo's, trying to force down some more oil. Again, Luigi's behaviour towards Lightning made everyone uncomfortable. Luigi would glare at Lightning every now and then and they would only talk to each other through the others ("Sally? Can you ask McQueen if he is coming to the hospital with us today?" "Guido, can you please tell Luigi I'll be going to the hospital in the afternoon?" Things like that.) Lightning didn't want it to get to this point, but whenever he tried to talk to Luigi himself, he would just be ignored.

One by one, the townsfolk would roll home slowly. Luigi and Guido would be the last to go home, being reluctant to leave Flo's at all, knowing that Casa Della Tires would be quiet and empty yet again without Fudge. Lightning would stay for quite a long time too. However, when there were only four left- being Luigi, Guido, himself and one of the other residents, which would change every day- and the fourth one was about to leave, McQueen would go as well. He and Guido couldn't really hold a proper conversation, so that would just leave Luigi to talk to. And he was far too uncomfortable to try that just yet. So, he just had to get out of there.

By the time Guido and Luigi returned to Casa Della Tires, it would be about two-thirty in the morning. They, like everyone else in town, would be lying awake, thoughts of Fudge refusing to leave their brains. Eventually, though, they would drift off to sleep for a few short hours, only to wake up at sunrise and go through it all again.

* * *

Lightning was not only struggling to sleep, but whenever he _could_ sleep, he would end up having nightmares about Fudge's accident. After all, he was the only one there to see it. He was the only one who actually _saw_ it happen. The nightmares were extremely vivid and played out exactly like the real accident. He skidded a little on the track, having lost control for a couple of seconds. Fudge fell off his roof. She gave that loud, horrified scream again. He clipped her hard. He tried to stop, but he couldn't. He ran her over. He skidded to a halt, horrified by what had happened.

"Fudge!" he shrieked, racing back towards her. " **FUDGE!** "

The human girl lay there, unconscious. Blood pouring out of her all over, bones sticking out. She looked dead. It all felt so familiar...

Only it didn't always end the same way in his nightmare as it did in real life. In fact, it rarely did. Normally in his horrible dream, Lightning tried so hard and for so long, giving her CPR. He could still hear those awful animal-like howls she gave off that night, which was something that he had always thought that he would never want to hear again. Sirens sounded in the distance, always seemingly just tauntingly out of reach. Then, when they finally arrived, they would check Fudge over before giving Lightning a look of sympathy.

"I'm so sorry", they would whisper remorsefully. Even though the wind, rain and thunder were insanely loud, Lightning would always be able to hear those words. They were always so painful. Always so real.

That was often when the race car would wake up in tears. For him, the worst part of it all was knowing that the nightmare didn't stop when he opened his eyes. It was always there. Fudge was still in the hospital. She was still in a coma. It was still all his fault.

Sally was always quick to wake up when Lightning started crying. She never had to ask what was wrong. She knew.

"Oh, _Stickers_!" she would exclaim, giving him a hug.

The first time it happened, Lightning described his nightmare to his girlfriend, even though she could figure it out. However, every other time, he never said anything. Neither did Sally. She would just hold him and let him cry for as long as he needed to until he either fell back asleep or the sun rose and he would decide that it was time to go over to Flo's. In between the nightmares, he was coping with the tragedy by drinking and listening to Alanis Morissette.

* * *

So, that's how it was for the next few weeks. Mater's birthday took place in the middle of all of this, but very little was done to celebrate it. Even Mater himself felt that it wouldn't be the same without Fudge, especially with where she was spending his birthday instead of with Mater himself.

Needless to say, nobody was in a really good mood.

"What if she doesn't make it?" Lightning asked the others at Flo's one evening while they were waiting for Luigi and Guido to return. They had just called to say that there was no news just yet _again_ and it was obvious that this lack of news was worrying Lightning.

"Stickers, don't talk like that!" Sally responded.

"You gotta think positive, man!" Fillmore added. "Fudge had good vibes about this year and so should we!"

"Good vibes aren't gonna help Fudge, hippie!" Sarge declared, making a face. "If good vibes were effective, she wouldn't have been _in_ the accident in the first place!"

All of Lightning's guilt came rushing back to him as Sally spoke up with, "Fillmore's right. All we can really do for her right now is hope for the best and that she'll recover."

"Come _on_ , you guys!" Lightning snapped, sounding pretty disgusted. "We all know it might not happen! What if she _doesn't_?!" He knew the answer to that. He wouldn't be able to live with himself. How _could_ he, knowing that Fudge was dead, all because of _him_?! Not seeing her every day would bring back guilty thoughts of how it was all his fault.

There was a pause. They all knew that, while they didn't want to think about it, Lightning was right. It was still quite possible that Fudge wouldn't survive.

"Well, then Doc will take care of her", Sally replied calmly.

Nobody could help a small smile from spreading across each of their faces and tears coming to their eyes. That was true. Not all of them agreed on what happened after death, but they all agreed that no matter what happened after death, Doc was somewhere out there, watching over them. So, they all knew that if Fudge was taken from them, she would go to be with Doc and he would look after her.

"Yeah..." Lightning admitted. "Yeah, I'm sure he will."

* * *

"Here come Luigi and Guido", Ramone announced half an hour later, spotting his friends coming into town.

Immediately, Lightning rolled off and started to head back to the Cozy Cone, knowing exactly what would happen if he stayed. As it was, Luigi gave him yet _another_ Look as he rolled past.

"Hey, Luigi, Guido!" everyone greeted them as they both pulled up at Flo's in tears.

" _Ciao_..."

"Here you go, honey." Flo gave each of them a can of oil.

" _Grazie_ ", Luigi mumbled half-heartedly. He didn't drink the oil. Neither did Guido. They just parked there in silence, staring into their cans.

"It's gonna get better, honey!" Flo insisted after several minutes.

Luigi sighed. He looked doubtful. "I don't know..."

"She still ain't awake yet?" Mater asked. He still didn't completely understand what was going on with Fudge. He didn't understand how Fudge could just sleep for _weeks_ on end.

"No", Luigi answered, choking on the words as sobs escaped from him. "The doctors are doing everything they can! But... but they don't know if she will ever wake up! Or if she will ever walk again if she does! I just wish there was something, _anything_ , I could do for her, but I... She..." Luigi couldn't talk anymore. He was crying too hard.

"Luigi! C'mere, honey!" Flo gave the Fiat a hug.

Luigi returned the hug and couldn't stop sobbing.

"I know, honey, I know! It's gonna get better!"

"It... it does not feel like it!" Luigi sobbed, struggling to speak.

"Never does."

Just like every other night since Fudge had been in the hospital, the only sound at Flo's was the sound of sobs. They all felt Luigi's pain. They all loved Fudge and wished that there was anything they could do for her too. And they all missed her. With the exception of Luigi and Guido, none of them had seen Fudge since the day of the accident. There was only one question that was burning in everyone's minds: Would Fudge ever get better?

 **Updates still might be a little slow as I make changes, but even so, I should be updating a little more often.**

 **Please review!**


	10. The Family Visit

**I know it hasn't been very long. However, I feel like I owe you guys for how long it took me to update this fic.**

 **I've given this story a bit of an overhaul and I can tell you that there will be thirty chapters and nobody dies (I like the character I was originally going to kill off too much!), but two people, besides Fudge, end up going through a bit of a rough time themselves.**

 **Chapter 10- The Family Visit**

Luigi pulled out Fudge's iPod and headphones. "Do you want to listen to some music?" He put the headphones on her and checked what song was playing. "It is 'Sh-Boom'", the Fiat reported. "Do you remember this song, Fudgie? You love this song. We all do. It brings back so many wonderful memories. We had the neon lights in Radiator Springs on for the first time and we were all cruising. You were dancing and playing with the bubbles. Do you remember?"

Of course, Fudge didn't answer.

Another day, another visit to hospital with very little process on their daughter's recovery. They were now in the middle of February, so the accident was six weeks ago and there had been very little news in all of that time. The only thing that had changed was the arrival of Fudge's half-brother, RJ Rose. He'd come from Thomasville to see his sister (and since they were biologically brother and sister, he was allowed to see her, but was too afraid, so he waited with everyone else).

And when the doctor- one of the best doctors in America (her name was Dr. Wilson)- came in to examine her, things didn't appear to get much better for them.

"It's been six weeks and we've seen very little progress with Brittney's recovery", she reported ruefully.

"I know", Luigi whispered, stroking his daughter's hair. "So, what does that mean?"

"I wouldn't count on Brittney making a recovery from this."

"She will!" Luigi insisted. "She is my daughter! She is going to be fine!"

No matter what the doctors said about Fudge's recovery or how many times they told him not to expect her to recover at all. Luigi had constantly insisted that Fudge was going to be fine. He had faith in his daughter, even if nobody else did.

* * *

When Dr. Wilson left, Luigi and Guido stayed in the room in silence, holding their daughter's hands for about ten minutes before Luigi removed the headphones from her ears gently.

"Okay. That is enough music for now", he announced quietly. "Using headphones for too long is bad for my baby's ears."

Luigi looked to Fudge again as if expecting her to make some kind of comment about that. Though, she remained silent. Obviously.

The Fiat sighed and leaned over to kiss her gently. "I love you so much!" he declared in a whisper as he brushed a strand of hair from her face.

With the lack of visible process Fudge had been making, neither of her fathers were expecting anything to happen. But this time, something did. It was only for a second, but her eyes fluttered open. They only saw the blue-grey in her eyes for a fraction of a second before her eyes closed again. It was incredible!

"Fudge!" Luigi gasped, staring at her in disbelief.

* * *

"You are not going to believe what has just happened!" Luigi exclaimed, approaching his friends, who were parked in the waiting area. Guido was right behind him.

Immediately, he had everyone's attention. They knew Luigi was hysterical, but was it good or bad? They couldn't tell. Yet, they were all ready to hear what it was. Was Fudge finally making progress?

"What?!" they all demanded. "What is it?!"

"I just gave Fudge a kiss and told her I love her!" Luigi babbled. "And she _opened her eyes_!"

Everyone's eyes widened and this was followed by exclamations.

"Are you serious?!"

"That's _great_!"

"Fantastic!"

"That's _amazing_!"

"I can't believe it!"

The Fiat nodded. "Yes. She went back to sleep right away, but the nurse said it is a good sign that she has opened her eyes."

"I'll bet!" Lightning declared.

Luigi just gave him a look as if the race car was something gross that he had just discovered on the bottom of his tyre. Only for a second, though. Then he looked around, pretending that he hadn't seen or heard his ex friend. "Where is Mater?"

"He's just gone to get some snacks from the vending machine", Sally reported. "He should be back soon."

"We _hope_ ", Sheriff added with a small smile. "Mater loves the vending machine. It's like he can't get enough of it!" It was true. The tow truck loved the snacks and he loved the vending machine, so he would often go to get himself as many snacks as possible as well as any requests the others had. It seemed, to the tow truck, to be the upside to the long hours spent at the hospital, worrying about Fudge and staring at the rain outside (the weather had been miserable for the entire month and a half Fudge had been in a coma).

Luigi nodded. "Okay. _Grazie_. I will go and give him the good news. We will let you know if anything else happens. Come on, Guido."

"Okay!" Guido agreed, following his best friend.

* * *

For the millionth time, Lightning sighed. "Did you _see_ the look he just gave me?!" he quizzed his friends. "I thought he'd be over this by now! But it's been over a month now and nothing! What do I do?!"

"Nothing", Sally responded. "You've apologised Chrysler knows how many times. Luigi's just upset right now. It'll pass."

"What if it doesn't?" the race car wondered.

That seemed to be the most popular- but not the favourite- game the RS gang had played since Fudge was hospitalised: "What if?" They had been asking each other all kinds of "what-if" questions. The most frequently asked question was the question first asked by Lightning, "What if she doesn't make it?"

In response to this round, Sally gave her boyfriend a sympathetic smile and a kiss. "Well, let's not worry about that until we have to."

* * *

Meanwhile, Mater was driving away from the vending machines, loaded with snacks, mostly potato chips and candy. He was about to head back to his friends, only to change his mind entirely and decide to go on a little detour. He wasn't lost. He knew the way from the vending machines to the lounge; after all, it was a journey he made at least three times a day for the past six weeks. Mater just wanted to explore the hospital and maybe even find Fudge. He hadn't seen her in a month and a half and he really missed her. Without giving it much thought, the tow truck followed a crowd of people to the nearest elevator and rode it around the hospital, looking around.

Occasionally, a curious Mater would try to look into the hospital rooms, to the annoyance of a lot of patients, their families, doctors and nurses. However, there was one room in particular that attracted the tow truck's attention: the room he'd been looking for all along! Room 617, or more specifically, Fudge's room. Now, Mater hadn't known what room number Fudge was in, but he could see her name written plain as day outside the door. Not really understanding why he couldn't go in and see her and only knowing that he wanted to, Mater rolled right into Room 617.

The room was empty and quiet. There were no doctors or nurses. Mater hadn't really known what he was expecting, but he sure wasn't prepared for what he saw. It was the exact same sight that Luigi and Guido had seen every day when they came in. A still, silent girl in a hospital gown with her eyes closed and with plaster casts and braces and machines that she was hooked up to and IVs and all. The only real difference between her on her first day in intensive care and her now was the medication she was on was causing her to lose weight. She was receiving injections of a strong dose of medication three times a day. Now, the once-chubby little girl was becoming thinner and thinner by the day.

At first, the tow truck didn't recognise his little sister. In fact, he was wondering if he had the wrong room. Did it really say Brittney Rossi-Topolino outside the door? Or maybe this was some other Brittney Rossi-Topolino.

No. Mater recognised the cards and presents he and his friends had given to Fudge, including the large collection of bears and other stuffed animals. This was her, all right. No doubt about it.

"Fudge!" he whispered, creeping closer to the bed. "Hey, Fudge!"

Of course, there was no answer. Just the sound of slow, soft breathing.

But Mater didn't give up. He shook the girl in front of him. "Fudge! Fudge, wake up! C'mon, Fudge! It's me! Mater! You done been asleep for a long time! C'mon! Wake up!"

Again, Mater only received silence.

He only had one idea of what to do. He didn't want to do it, but desperate times called for desperate measures. The tow truck crept towards the bed, trying to be as quiet as possible. Then, as if Fudge was a sleeping tractor, Mater honked his horn.

The good news was... Well, there _was_ no good news. Not only did Fudge's eyes stay closed, but the sound of his honk attracted the attention of a passing nurse, who came rushing into the room.

"Sir, you're not supposed to be in here!" she informed him bluntly. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Mater's eyes widened and his heart sank, but he had no choice but to roll out of the room, only to run straight into Luigi.

"Mater? What were you doing in there?" the Fiat wondered.

"I just wanted to see Fudge", Mater explained, hanging his head guiltily.

"Mater! There you are!" Sarge called, having appeared in the doorway, shortly followed by the rest of the Radiator Springs residents and Dr. Wilson. "We've been looking everywhere for you! What are you doing?"

"He has been disturbing the patient", the nurse explained, ushering everyone away from the door. She told them about what Mater had done.

"I just wanted to see 'er!" the tow truck tried to justify his actions when everyone gave him questioning looks. "I ain't seen Fudge in a long time!"

Everyone looked his way sympathetically. They all knew Mater shouldn't have tried to wake Fudge up, but they all understood _why_ he did it.

"Just... just out of curiosity, when _will_ we be allowed to see her?" Sarge wanted to know, looking at Dr. Wilson.

The doctor thought for a moment. "You know what?" she announced finally. "I think I can give you all ten minutes."

"Really?" Ramone asked.

Dr. Wilson nodded. "Only family's allowed in to see her. And I can tell that you are all family. Just let me do these tests and give Brittney her medication and I'll let you in."

"Thank you!" the RS gang chorused happily.

"You're welcome. Just don't make too much noise and don't mess with any of the equipment", she added quickly. (Guess who she was looking directly at when she said that!) "Because you're really not supposed to be in there and I'm most definitely not supposed to be letting you in." She paused. "Although, if you _do_ get caught, I'll take the blame."

"Thank you!" they repeated before Dr. Wilson entered Fudge's hospital room.

Luckily, they didn't have to wait long.

"All right", Dr. Wilson announced, coming out of the room, "I'm all done. Everything looks fine. I'll let you in to see her now. I don't think there'll be any interruptions in that time." She turned to the nurse. "Savannah, can you just make sure they're out in ten minutes?"

"Of course!" Savannah agreed.

"Thank you!" The RS gang rolled into Fudge's hospital room slowly to see the baby of their little family for the first time in over a month.

* * *

Like Mater, none of them recognised the girl right away. Luigi and Guido had told their friends that Fudge didn't look like their Fudge, lying there in her bed, in a coma. Still, what they saw was even worse than what they were expecting. She looked lifeless. Just like Guido and Luigi had done pretty much every time they entered her room, they were half-expecting Fudge to open her eyes, greet them with a big smile on her face and get out of bed. Again, this obviously never happened.

Red started sobbing at the sight of her. So did Sally and Flo. Sheriff tried to hide it, but it was obvious that he was crying too. RJ gasped softly. All of them, to some extent, looked afraid of her. Yet they all knew that they had to stay. For Fudge. She needed them.

"She looks like she's lost a lot of weight, man", Ramone observed, managing to find his voice as he parked by her bedside.

Luigi nodded, kissing the top of Fudge's head before looking back at Ramone. "It is the medication", he explained. "The doctors have warned us about that." The Fiat looked back at his daughter. "Fudgie, guess who's here!"

"Hey, Fudge!" the others greeted her in unison warmly.

"You got the cards and the presents and the flowers they gave you, didn't you?" Luigi went on. "Luigi read all of the cards to you and helped you unwrap all of your presents, remember? Are you going to say thank you? Fudge, can you say thank you?"

They all knew that Fudge wasn't going to say thank you. Luigi was just finding any and every excuse to talk to his daughter.

"You're welcome, sweetie", Sally piped up after a couple of seconds, also merely to talk to her. She planted a kiss on Fudge's forehead. "We really miss you around town."

"Yeah", Sheriff agreed in a tight voice. "Radiator Springs sure ain't the same without you, kiddo."

"We want you to get better, honey, so we can smile again", Flo added. "You have such a beautiful smile and it makes _us_ wanna smile."

* * *

Fudge's family chattered away to her about whatever came to mind, which included the latest news around Radiator Springs, news from the TV, how Mater's birthday had been and, what Mater talked about, the "yummy, yummy" snacks from the vending machine. They were so distracted by Fudge that it wasn't until they had two minutes left of visiting time that they realised the someone was missing.

"Where's McQueen, man?" Fillmore wondered, looking around to find a lack of the race car.

Everyone jumped in with comments like, "I haven't seen him since we left to look for Mater", or, "I didn't see him come in." Only Luigi remained silent.

"I'm here, guys!" Lightning's voice called from outside the room.

Sally reversed out of the room and joined her boyfriend. "What are you doing out here?" she questioned. "Don't you want to see Fudge?"

The racer sighed, tears filling his eyes. "I don't know, Sally... I mean, sure; I _want_ to see her, but... I don't know if I'm ready to see her... you know... like this."

"I know." She kissed him. "You don't have to do this if you're not ready."

Lightning paused. "I wanna see her", he announced quietly.

"Are you sure?" she asked him. "Because you don't have to-" she began, only to be cut off.

"Yeah... I... I still don't know if I'm ready, but... She's my sister... I wanna see her." After all, he was the only one who saw Fudge immediately after the accident. How bad could it be?

"All right... Come on. We only have about two minutes left."

Reluctantly, Lightning rolled into the hospital room after Sally. At first, he was looking down, but all of a sudden, he glanced up and his eyes widened. There was Fudge. It was worse than he thought. Maybe it wasn't as bad as when he first saw her lying on the track, but it was still horrible. Lightning just stared at her in shock for a couple of seconds.

"Stickers?" Sally asked, her voice filled with concern.

McQueen didn't answer. He just tore his eyes away from Fudge and raced out of the room in tears.

Everyone stared after him in silence for a moment.

"Well, I better make sure he's okay", Sally announced. She moved over to the bed once again and gave Fudge a kiss. "I'm gonna go now, Fudge. Sorry I couldn't stay with you longer, but I need to make sure Lightning is okay." Another kiss. "I love you, sweetie. Lightning does too. Get well soon, okay?"

With that, Sally left the room yet again to find Lightning.

* * *

She finally caught up with him back in the lounge.

"There you are! Are you okay?" She held out her tyres towards him.

Another sigh escaped the race car as he tried to control his sobbing. However, when he collapsed into Sally's hug, he ended up crying harder. "I... I don't know, Sally. I... I just..."

"I know", she whispered gently. "I know that wasn't easy for you."

"Th- That wasn't as bad... as bad as... as bad as when she first... you know... But... I... I thought she'd be better by now!"

Sally gave him another kiss. "We all did."

* * *

Meanwhile, Savannah the nurse entered Fudge's hospital room.

"I'm sorry", she called out, "but I'm afraid time's up. Anyone who's not one of Brittney's fathers, out you go."

Not surprisingly, the RS gang were disappointed by this news, but they couldn't really complain. They weren't even supposed to have this time. So, they all kissed Fudge, told her that they loved her and to get well soon before rolling out of the room reluctantly.

"Did you enjoy seeing the rest of your family, Fudgie?" Luigi questioned once Ramone, who was the last one to leave, closed the door behind him. As usual, Fudge didn't answer and Luigi just kept talking. "I am sorry they had to leave, but at least you got to see them. Dr. Wilson was nice enough to let them in to see you when they were not supposed to. You will have to thank her when she comes in to see you, okay? Can Fudgie say thank you to Dr. Wilson when you next see her? I know you can because you are a good girl." He gave her another kiss. "Such a good girl. And even better, when you saw the others, Lightning was not here. Luigi does not want him to see you after what he did to you, my poor little angel."

"Luigi!" Guido cried. "(Don't you think you should talk to Lightning? Because I do. I have talked to him and he is very upset.)"

"(He should be)", Luigi responded coldly. "(This is all his fault!)"

"(It was an accident!)" Guido insisted. "(Please just talk to him!)"

"(Fine! I will talk to him later!)" Luigi snapped and Guido knew by his tone that he wouldn't.

Even so, he decided not to push it anymore. The little forklift figured that it would probably be best to change the subject. So, he turned to his daughter and whispered, "(Does Fudgie want to watch some more TV? Should Guido see what is on? Okay.)"

Guido reached for the remote and began flipping through the channels, asking Fudge if she wanted to watch whatever was on each channel. Finally, Guido left the TV on a daytime game show, which seemed like a good way to talk to her. Every now and then, both he and Luigi would ask Fudge what she thought of any of the answers or how the contestants were going or exclaim over how much she would like the prizes. Lightning was soon forgotten.

* * *

"Hey, buddy!" Mater greeted his best friend, meeting up with him at the vending machine later that evening. The race car had been roaming around the hospital, depressed. Now, he was parked by the vending machine staring into it intently like... Mater didn't know what. He wasn't hungry, just upset. Staring, but not really seeing.

"Hey, Mater", he responded dejectedly.

"You gonna get somethin'?" the tow truck questioned, gesturing to the vending machine in front of him as Lightning reversed away to let him through.

Lightning shook his hood. "No thanks, buddy." Food was the farthest thing from his mind at that point. The pizza and ice cream he'd had with Fudge that fateful night was the last time he'd had a proper meal. Even so, he really wasn't hungry. How _could_ he when he felt sick?

"All right. I'm just gonna get some stuff fer me then." Mater moved closer to the machine and began shaking it, hoping that something would fall out. "Hey, buddy! I just got off the radio with Holley, Finn and Sammy. They done jus' finished a mission in Prague and they got some paperwork to do, but then they is coming here. They wanna be with Fudge too 'cause Sammy is Fudge's sister, so CHROME done gived them some time off again, even though they jus' had some."

McQueen tried to smile as he looked at his best friend, but he just couldn't. He had done a lot of smiling and laughing on the day of Fudge's accident; _before_ it happened, of course. Now, he could hardly remember what it felt like. "Yeah... Yeah, that's... that's great, Mater", he replied half-heartedly.

"You okay? I ain't seen you since I left to go to the vendin' machine for the... second time, I think it was", he informed him, to which Lightning couldn't help smiling just a little bit. "Why didn't you come in and see Fudge?... Hey! I got one!" Mater exclaimed abruptly, pulling a bag of potato chips out of the vending machine, having shaken them free.

"I... I tried, Mater, but I just couldn't. It was just too hard... Seeing her like that and... and knowing that I did that to her..." That was all it took for Lightning's tears to start up again. "Mater, this is all my fault! I put Fudge, my baby _sister_ , _in the hospital_! Luigi was right! I should've been looking after her! I should never have let her talk me into staying a little longer! All I want is to be able to go back in time and... and tell her no! What was I _thinking_ going for those last couple of laps?! That was stupid! I knew it, even then! And now, because of it, Fudge is..." He sobbed uncontrollably up against Mater for a few minutes.

"What's wrong with me, Mater?!" Lightning groaned when he was finally able to speak. "I put Fudge in the _hospital_... This... this whole thing was my fault to begin with... And... and I can't even go in there to be with her! What's _wrong_ with me?! Why... Why couldn't it have been _me_?! _I_ deserve to be in that coma instead of _her_!"

"Shoot, buddy, it's gonna be okay!" Mater insisted after a while, munching on a chip. He wasn't entirely sure how to comfort his friend. He'd never seen him as upset as he had been these last few weeks. He gave him a hug. "There ain't nothin' wrong wit' you. You is jus' upset, that's all. You was the only one who was there when it happened, but it ain't yer fault. You didn't know what was gonna happen. You ain't sidekick."

"Psychic", Lightning corrected him emotionlessly.

Mater understood exactly how he was feeling. There was just one thing the tow truck didn't understand. This was all Lightning's fault. Lightning knew it. Luigi knew it (sure, Lightning wished that the Fiat wasn't still mad at him, but he really couldn't blame him). But nobody else did. Why couldn't they see it? Every time he tried to tell them, they would try to get him to stop talking and insist that it was just an accident. Even so, he shouldn't have been so stupid to go for those extra laps.

"That's what I said. Anyway, what I'm tryin' to say is it'll be fine", Mater went on, holding the salt and vinegar chip bag out to Lightning, who shook his hood and whispered a polite decline to the offer. "Fudge is gon' git better and then we can-"

"She might not, Mater!" Lightning snapped, making the tow truck jump before a hurt expression took over his face. Lightning took a deep breath, feeling guilty and trying to calm down. Neither of them wanted a replay of their fight in Japan. "I'm sorry, buddy. I didn't mean to yell."

"Aw, it's okay, buddy", Mater assured him. "I know you ain't been yerself since Fudge done got put in the hospital. Shoot, I don't think none of us has."

McQueen nodded, grateful that his best friend truly understood. "It's just... You know Fudge might not get better, don't you, Mater?"

"I know", Mater admitted quietly. Tears came to his own eyes. "I... I jus' don't like to think 'bout that. I just want 'er to git better."

"Me too... Me too", Lightning agreed, trying to dry his eyes.

"That's why I done tried to wake 'er up earlier!" the tow truck insisted, even though McQueen already understood. His voice was shaking too. "She done been asleep for a long time... I jus' wanted to see 'er and talk to 'er."

"I really wish Doc was here. He'd know what to do."

"Yep", Mater shared his best friend's opinion. "I bet Doc would know what he was doin' and he could make Fudge better!"

"I'm sure these doctors know what they're doing too", Lightning commented, talking more to himself than Mater, "and Fudge's recovery has to be in her own time, but still, I'd feel better if Doc was looking after her."

"Well, Miss Sally said he might!"

Lightning didn't answer.

* * *

"Ah! Mater! There you are!" Luigi exclaimed, rolling up to the race car and tow truck. He looked exhausted as he did at the end of every other day at the hospital. "We have been looking for you again! It is time to go. Will you tell McQueen?" It was obvious that he'd seen the race car.

"McQueen can hear you, Luigi", Mater replied, puzzled.

"Will you just tell McQueen the next time you see him?" Luigi requested again, driving off.

Mater looked to his best friend. "McQueen-" he began.

"I heard", Lightning cut him off in a deadpan.

So, tyre in tyre **(AN: The closest I could get to them, if they were human, putting their arms around each other)** , the two best friends rolled away from the vending machine and made their way back to join the others without saying another word.

 **So, yeah, this was kind of a filler. Of course, I feel like recovery from something like this would take time, but I need to keep the story moving along. So, I put this chapter in. There will be more soon. Next chapter focuses on Lightning and how he's feeling after what's happened (if you've read _Need for Speed_ , you'll know what this is.)** **.**

 **Oh! And if you don't know who RJ is or the thing about Sammy being Fudge's sister, read _Guns and Roses_. It explains everything.**

 **Please review!**


	11. Guilt Tripping

**I'm back with a new chapter, exactly two years since I first published When Life Gives You Lemons. I really better get going on this story, which is why I'm, once again, updating quickly.**

 **Like I said in the previous chapter, you will have had a little preview of this chapter if you've read _Need for Speed_. I hope you still enjoy this chapter, as there will be extra details I didn't include in that fic.**

 **Chapter 11- Guilt Tripping**

" _Hey, McQueen!_ " a familiar voice came through the phone as Lightning listened to his voicemail messages when he got home that night. " _It's Cal. Cal Weathers. Um... I don't_ _know_ why _I said that. You_ know _my last name. Anyway... Bobby, Brick and I were practising_ _for the new season. We... we understand why you weren't there, but it sure wasn't the_ _same_ _without you. We were just wondering how Fudge was... and... and how_ you _were, of course._ _I... Well... Give me a call when you get the chance... We're all here for you, you know that,_ _right? Okay... Bye."_

" _Hey, Lightnin'. It's Rusty and Dusty. We're just callin' to let you know that there's no_ _pressure to race next week. It's just... if you_ are _going to race, we need to know as soon as_ _possible. We hope you're doin' okay. Tell Fudge we're thinkin' of her._ "

Lightning sighed. He hadn't spoken to any of his racing buddies since before the holidays. He had been so focused on Fudge. Sure, they'd called, but with everything going on, he hadn't returned their calls.

But Rusty and Dusty had made a good point. The first race of the season was only about a week away. Lightning hadn't given it any thought until he heard that message. He was going to have to call them back and tell them that he wasn't going to race.

* * *

"Hey, Stickers!"

The race car turned around to find a certain Porsche parked behind him.

"Hey, Sally."

"What were you doing? I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

"No, no!" he assured her. "I just finished listening to my voicemails."

"Who called?"

Lightning told her about the calls he'd received.

"Are you going to race?"

"Of course not! How _can_ I when Fudge is still in the hospital?!"

"Maybe it'll do you some good to take your mind off Fudge, though", Sally voiced her opinion. "Which is why I was wondering if you wanted to come to the Wheel Well with me. We could take a drive, have dinner, not worry about Fudge."

Lightning sighed. "Sure, Sally." It sounded like a good idea. He used to love going for drives and having dinner with Sally. He hadn't eaten or drunk properly in days or even _weeks_. Plus, Sally was probably right. It seemed like a good idea to forget about Fudge for a little while without drinking. He'd been thinking about her and suffering the pain for far too long.

"Well, let's go then."

* * *

As they rolled along, they stayed silent, unsure of what to even talk about. They weren't supposed to be thinking or talking about Fudge, but that was all they could think about. After all, she had taken up a lot of their time over the last six weeks and they hadn't been up to much else. What _were_ they supposed to talk about?

When they arrived at the Wheel Well, though, Sally tried to make conversation with her boyfriend.

"Remember when we came here for dinner one time and Mater pretended to be our waiter just so he could spend time with you?" Sally asked, chuckling.

Lightning couldn't help smiling. Until he remembered something else. "Yeah... And... and Fudge was the maître d'."

"Yeah she was", Sally recalled, trying to remain upbeat. "That was right before the World Grand Prix, wasn't it?"

"Yeah... Yeah, it was... I still can't believe how _that_ turned out."

"I don't think anyone can." Sally sighed, knowing that she had to change the subject fast. This was too close to talking about Fudge. After all, the human girl was involved in the reason that the whole WGP was so insane. "Remember the first time we came up here?"

"Are you kidding? I would _never_ forget _that_!" Lightning replied.

That was a prompt for the two of them to begin to talk about their first trip up to the Wheel Well together. From there, they started to shift to other conversations.

Although they weren't talking about Fudge, Lightning couldn't stop thinking about his sister. The same thoughts of how her current condition was all his fault and how he couldn't go in to be with her were whirling around in his brain. He'd told Sally exactly how he felt about all of that; all the stuff he'd told Mater earlier that day, but she would insist that it wasn't his fault and that it was okay that he hadn't been able to go and see her because he was upset. Why didn't anybody understand that it _was_ all his fault?

Despite that, the race car found himself relaxing and enjoying the evening. He hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time. Sally always seemed able to do wonders for him. He had no idea how she did it.

* * *

"Hey, McQueen!" a familiar voice called out when they returned to town. It was Sammy, who approached Lightning and Sally with Finn, Holley and Mater.

"Hey, guys!" Lightning greeted them, trying to smile. "When did you get here?"

"About half an hour ago", Finn replied.

"We'll be going with you to the hospital tomorrow", Holley added. "We won't be able to do anything for her either, but we wanted to be with you."

Sally nodded gratefully. "Thanks."

"I still can't believe any of this has happened", Sammy remarked, shaking her head. They started making their way over to Flo's where the rest of the townsfolk, RJ and Mack were gathered for the evening. "Of course, I would've found it devastating under any circumstances, but ever since I discovered Fudge was my sister, things like this have impacted me a lot more personally... How you feeling, McQueen?"

"I've been better", he repeated the response he used every time he got asked that question.

"You know", the human woman began thoughtfully, "I know exactly what you're going through... I've told you about Jamie and Cody, haven't I?"

"Your kids?" Lightning asked. It sounded familiar.

Sammy nodded sadly. "Yeah. My kids."

"You have kids, Sammy?" Mater spoke up.

" _Had_ kids!" Sammy corrected him remorsefully. "Two little boys... I lost them when I made the stupid decision to leave and answer the phone while I was giving them a bath." She looked at the race car in front of her. "I know what it's like to feel responsible for something like this happening to a loved one. The pain you feel. The guilt..."

"Yeah, can you just cut to the part that's supposed to make me feel better?" Lightning snapped. He felt bad enough as it was and Sammy's words weren't helping at all.

"All I'm trying to say", Sammy informed him, "is you didn't even do anything wrong like I did. _I_ made a dumb decision; _you_ didn't do anything wrong."

"Didn't do anything wrong?!" Lightning echoed incredulously. "I've put my little sister in the _hospital_ because I was stupid enough to stay when I _knew_ the weather was bad! _That_ was the dumb decision _I_ made!" For a moment, everyone, even the stock car himself, thought that he was going to cry again, but he didn't. Not this time.

"Hey... uh... boss?" Mack piped up after a couple of minutes of awkward silence. "I know this might be a bad time and I'm sorry, but... I was just talkin' to Rusty and Dusty... They were just wonderin' if you got their message."

"Yeah... Yeah I did..." he replied.

"Are... are you gonna race?" Mack questioned.

Lightning sighed. "I don't know... I mean, I'm not sure if I'll be ready... Though, it may be a good chance to take my mind off Fudge... and Luigi."

"Luigi?" Sammy repeated, puzzled. "Why Luigi?" She, Finn and Holley hadn't seen or spoken to Luigi yet and were unaware of the issues Lightning was having with him.

Lightning explained how Luigi had been treating him lately. "I mean, I know I deserve it. I've done this horrible thing to his daughter, but... I just kinda wish this would be over now. I feel bad enough about what happened as it is without Luigi treating me like a..." He tried to think of a good word. "Like a _criminal_."

"I'm sure when Fudge is getting better, he'll start to get past this", Finn assured him.

"People keep saying that.

"But you know... if I go to the race, I don't think I'd have a pit crew", Lightning mused, getting back to the original topic. "There's no way Luigi and Guido are gonna wanna leave Fudge. And even if they _did_ , Luigi's not gonna wanna work with me!"

"Don't worry about that, boss", Mack spoke up. "Rusty and Dusty said they could get a temporary crew for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Still... I don't know..."

"Well, you've still got a little while to think about it", Sally reasoned.

* * *

That was true. And Lightning did think about it. The arguments to go or not to go kept going around and around in his brain for ages. For such a long time, he didn't know what he was going to do. The following evening, he was at Flo's with Finn, Holley, Sammy, RJ, Mack and the RS gang apart from Luigi and Guido (they'd all gone to the hospital that day, but the two Italians were staying a little while longer to be with their daughter) and he just found himself, making the announcement without giving it any thought.

"You know what? I think I'm gonna go."

Everyone looked his way in surprise. Nobody said anything. That was the way Radiator Springs had been for most of the past month and a half. Unnaturally quiet. Especially without Sarge and Fillmore going through their daily morning routine. It seemed a little dirtier too since none of them, especially Luigi and Guido, had kept up with the town's maintenance much. Sarge hadn't even been mowing his lawn all that much.

"Really?" Sally asked, surprised.

The race car nodded. "Yeah... Why are you so surprised? _You're_ the one who thought it would be a good idea for me to go."

"I _do_!" Sally laughed. "I just didn't think you'd listen to me!"

Everyone laughed, even McQueen himself.

"Only thing is", Lightning went on thoughtfully, "no offense, Mack, but I don't think you can get me there and back fast enough. So, I'm gonna have to have to fly there."

"I understand, boss. What's goin' on here is your priority right now. I'll still come to the race, though. If you _want_ me to, that is."

Lightning appreciated his understanding and was glad he still had Mack's moral support.

* * *

" _Ciao_!" Luigi greeted his friends as he and Guido pulled up to Flo's. They both looked just as exhausted as they had every other night.

" _Ciao_!" everyone responded.

"What's going on?" Sarge wanted to know.

"Nothing", Luigi answered. "There is no change still."

"Well, I'm gonna come in and see her tomorrow", Sammy announced. She took a deep breath. "To be honest with you, I'm kind of nervous." She shook her head. "What's _wrong_ with me?! I've seen dead bodies before and I'm nervous to see _this_!"

"Fudge is your sister", Holley pointed out. "It _would_ be rather hard for you to see her."

"It doesn't even _look_ like Fudge", Lightning commented quietly. "With all the casts and bandages and machines." He shuddered at the memory.

"And the medication makes her lose weight", Luigi chimed in, forgetting that Lightning was the one who spoke before him.

"What medication is she on?" Finn questioned.

Luigi told him.

"Ah, yes!" Finn nodded knowingly. "And how often is she getting that?"

"Injections three times a day", Luigi reported.

The Faultless GT gave another nod. "That _would_ make her lose weight."

Luigi nodded before changing the subject. "So, what were you talking about?" the Fiat wondered.

"McQueen just done said he's goin' to race this weekend!" Mater informed Luigi.

"Oh!" Luigi realised that they had been talking about Lightning and all of a sudden, any interest in the conversation vanished.

"So, at least I'll be gone for a couple of days", Lightning informed Luigi drily.

Luigi nodded. "Good."

With that, he rolled off. Lightning sighed.

* * *

" _Hello, race fans and welcome to another season of Piston Cup racing!_ " a familiar voice began over the TV in the hospital lounge. " _I'm Bob Cutlass, once again here with my_ _good friend, Darrell Cartrip, to give you all the latest action here at the first race of the_ _Piston Cup season!_ "

" _You know, Bob_ ", Darrell declared, " _I always love the start of a new season. It's a clean slate_ _and everybody's ready to give it their all._ "

Well, _almost_ everybody.

In his trailer, Lightning had his eyes closed, trying to focus on the race. He had flown to Florida the night before and he'd been extremely busy all day. First, there had been meeting up with Cal Weathers, Bobby Swift and Brick Yardley.

"Hey, McQueen!" they had all greeted him happily.

"How you doing?" Cal had added.

Lightning had replied with his standard response of, "I've been better."

"Are you sure you wanna race?" Brick wanted to know.

"Yeah!" Lightning assured them, even though none of them were sure if he really was.

"Well, it's good to see you again!" Bobby had commented, the other three chiming in with their agreement.

"Thanks... It's... It's good to see you guys too." And he felt that it really was. After all he'd been through lately, it was nice to see his friends again.

"How's Fudge?"

"She's still not out of her coma yet", Lightning had reported sadly. "No change yet."

The other three nodded understandingly.

"I gotta go", Lightning announced. "I gotta go talk to Bob and Darrell."

"Okay", the others had agreed. "Well, good luck today, McQueen!"

"Thanks! You too!" he had responded as he drove off.

* * *

So, Lightning went off to talk to Bob and Darrell. He told them about the update in Fudge's condition and they wanted to confirm that it was okay to announce all of this live. Earlier in the week, McQueen had asked Luigi and Guido this very same question since it was concerning _their_ daughter. Luigi hadn't answered, but Guido had assured him that it was fine. So, Lightning had told Bob and Darrell that it was fine as well. Then he retreated to his trailer to prepare for the race as he usually did.

* * *

Mack had driven to Florida ahead of him, so he still had his trailer, for which he was extremely grateful. There was no way that he'd be able to do his usual pre-race ritual out in the open with the press around and all the noise, especially with thoughts of Fudge and what he'd done to her still buzzing around in his brain, no matter how hard he tried to rid himself of them.

"Speed", he whispered to himself, trying to fix his mind solely on the race. _Just try_ _not to think about Fudge!_ he kept telling himself. "I... am... speed."

Before he could get any further, vivid images filled his mind. A lightning bolt flashed in front of him as Fudge tumbled right off his roof. He didn't stop, he _couldn't_ stop. He clipped her, ran her over and turned around to see the lifeless body of his sister, lying on the track. Opening his eyes didn't help either; he could still see those haunting images _plus_ photos of Fudge and the drawing Fudge had done during his first week in Radiator Springs of all of the town's residents. Of course, he had put it up in his trailer.

This replayed over and over in the race car's mind until he was saved by Mack. There were several bangs on his trailer door.

"Hey, Lightning!" he called out. "You ready?"

"What?" he asked, distracted. "Yeah... Yeah... I guess..." he replied, sounding far from ready.

"You know, it's still not too late to back out", Mack reminded him.

"I know... I... I wanna do this."

Mack sighed. He'd known Lightning a long time. He could tell racing was just about the last thing he wanted to do. Still, he decided not to say anything about it. He just responded with a doubtful, "All right... As long as you're sure..."

"Yeah..." _All right!_ Lightning practically ordered himself. _It's obvious you're not gonna stop_ _thinking about Fudge! So, use that! Win for her!_

With those thoughts still fresh in his mind, Lightning opened the trailer door and rolled out to the flashing of cameras and shouts of reporters.

* * *

Before long, he was lining up with the forty-two other race cars for the start of the race. He didn't show up to the qualifier, so he was at the back of the pack. Though, many doubted that would be a problem for a racer as talented as Lightning McQueen.

" _We're not used to seein' Lightning McQueen startin' dead last_ ", Darrell Cartrip remarked, " _but we've all heard of the unbelievable burden he's comin' into the season_ _with._ "

" _That's right, Darrell_ ", Bob Cutlass agreed. Then, just in case anybody didn't know, Bob went on to repeat the news on Fudge. " _McQueen spoke to us earlier and his cheerleader is still_ _currently in an induced coma after her horrific accident_."

At the back of the line of race cars, Lightning McQueen had the same thought going through his brain. _Do this for Fudge, do this for Fudge, do this for Fudge!_

But with that being his only thought, he almost completely missed the waving of the green flag.

"Dammit!" he groaned in disbelief when he snapped out of it and fought to catch up with the other racers. The last time that happened was on the day of the 2006 tiebreaker race in Los Angeles when he was distracted by thoughts of Radiator Springs, especially Sally.

" _Boogity, boogity, boogity! Let's go racing, boys!_ " Darrell Cartrip yelled.

* * *

"He almost missed the start of the race", Sarge commented from the hospital lounge where the RS gang- sans Luigi, Guido, Fudge and Lightning- Finn and Holley were watching the race on TV. "I'm not sure if it was a good idea for him to go when he's this worried about Fudge. He needs to be focused!"

"I don't blame him", Sally commented. "We've all been worried about Fudge."

"He needed the distraction, man!" Fillmore voiced his opinion.

"Fudge _is_ the distraction!"

Sally sighed. "Of course _you two_ don't agree!"

"C'mon, buddy!" Mater yelled, his eyes fixed on the TV.

* * *

"(What do you think of the race, Fudge?)" Guido questioned. He, Luigi, Sammy and RJ were sat in Fudge's hospital room, also watching the race.

Of course, Fudge didn't answer. She was just lying there with her eyes closed.

Luigi sighed and kissed his daughter on the forehead as the door opened and the nurse, Matt, came in.

"Now, let's see how you're going."

So, he did.

Still no change", he reported as the doctors and nurses always did. "Not yet."

Luigi nodded dejectedly.

"Well, I'll leave the five of you alone now."

" _Grazie_ ", Luigi and Guido chorused. " _Ciao_."

"(Okay. Fudgie, now that your tests are over, let's watch the race again)", Guido suggested.

"Do we have to watch the race?" Luigi wondered. "I mean, McQueen-"

"( _McQueen_ is Fudge's _brother!_ )" Guido reminded his best friend. "(Maybe you are angry at him for what happened, but what are you going to do when Fudge is awake?! Not let him see her?!)"

"He has not been seeing her anyway!" Luigi argued.

"(Well, he _has_ to sometime!)" Guido reasoned. "(And I don't want you telling him he can't! Because he loves Fudge and she loves him!)"

Luigi sighed again. "As long as _I_ do not have to see him, I do not care!"

* * *

Twenty laps passed. Lightning wasn't doing bad, but he sure wasn't doing great either. He was sort of in the middle of the pack. Cal was in the lead and Bobby and Brick were right behind him. Several racers were thrilled to be ahead of Lightning McQueen, which was something that they weren't used to.

Lightning, however, really didn't care. Despite his previous determination to win the race for Fudge, nothing was enough to focus on the race rather than his baby sister. Being on the track was just bringing those awful memories back. Every time he rounded a turn, he felt like he had to stop and turn around. Go back and help Fudge. Then he would have to remind himself that everything was fine. Fudge wasn't lying crumpled on the track. She was in the hospital. There was no need to worry... _No need to worry?_ he scoffed mentally, unable to believe what he was thinking. Fudge was in the _hospital_!

"Come on, Lightning!" he whispered to himself out loud. "Try not to think about Fudge! Just win this race for her and then you can go home! Just focus on the race, focus on the race, focus on the race!"

It was the twenty-fourth lap when it happened. One minute, everything on the track was going fine. Maybe not in Lightning's head, but out on the track, everything was fine. Until one of the younger racers clipped the wall hard. He spun out of control, causing another racer to collide into him. He, too, spun out of control and a third racer smashed into _him_. This continued until there were about twelve cars in the pileup.

Lightning managed to stop before he could be part of that pileup. That almost didn't happen, though. He had been so distracted by thoughts of Fudge, as he had been for the entire race, that he almost didn't stop in time.

" _Lightnin'!_ " Mack shouted through the radio in a desperate attempt to get him to stop before he could crash as well. However, he knew that the race car was unfocused and feared that he might not stop. " _Look out!_ "

Luckily, his eyes widened and he skidded to a halt just inches from one of the other cars.

His eyes remained wide at the sight of the crash. It hadn't been a very serious one. The problem was what it made him think of: another serious accident that had happened recently to someone very close to him. Even as the yellow flag was waved and the other racers drove into the pits, Lightning was parked there, frozen in shock, breathing heavily, his eyes swimming with tears.

"Hey, McQueen!" Cal called out, concerned. "You all right?"

The number 95 turned to the number 42. "What? Oh! Yeah... Yeah... I'm fine."

But as he made his way to the pits, he had to admit to himself that he wasn't. Every one of those four turns brought back painful memories. The wreck that had just happened brought back painful memories. There was no way that he could get through the rest of the race if the first twenty-four laps were this bad. Putting himself through the other four-hundred and seventy-six laps seemed torturous.

" _Lightning?!_ " Mack's voice called through the radio. " _Earth to Lightning!_ "

"Whoa!" Lightning's eyes widened yet again as he realised he had driven straight past his pits. He slammed on his brakes and reversed back to his pits.

"We need tyres now!" one of the pitties that Rusty and Dusty had hired shouted to the others, preparing to change Lightning's tyres. "Come on! Let's go!"

"No!" McQueen responded forcefully. "No tyres!"

" _What_?!" the pitties exclaimed, remembering hearing about Lightning McQueen pulling this kind of thing when he was a rookie. "You need tyres, you idiot!"

"Not if I don't go back out there!" Lightning shot back. "Which I'm not!"

" _What_?! What do you mean you're not going back out there?!" one of the pitties cried.

"I _mean_ I'm not going back out there!" McQueen told him. "You _saw_ how I was going out there! All I can think about is..." He trailed off, sobbing. Before anybody could argue with him any more, Lightning rolled off to exit the stadium.

" _Well, I have_ never _seen this before!_ " Bob Cutlass exclaimed. " _I think this must be a_ _Piston Cup first! Lightning McQueen has just left the race!_ "

" _I don't believe what I'm seein'!_ " Darrell Cartrip added, sounding just as surprised as his fellow announcer.

* * *

"What's he doin'?" Mater wondered, puzzled as he watched his best friend leave his race.

"I think it was too much for him", Sally explained quietly.

" _Told_ you Fudge was a distraction for him", Sarge commented, glaring at Fillmore.

* * *

" _We are not sure if McQueen is planning on returning_ ", Bob informed viewers. " _Let's go to_ _Shannon Spokes, who is trackside, for more information._ "

" _That's right, Bob_ ", Shannon Spokes confirmed as the camera jumped to her. " _Lightning_ _McQueen has just left the stadium. He has not commented to anyone on the reason behind_ _this, but he appears to be very emotional and we believe that it has something to do with_ _his_ _cheerleader, Fudge Rossi-Topolino._ "

* * *

" _Hey, boss!_ " Mack called through the radio as Lightning made his way through the streets. " _Where you goin'?!_ "

"To the airport!" he replied. "I'm going home!"

Mack sighed, thinking that he should've known that all along. " _Guess I can't stop you. But I_ am _comin' with you!_ "

"Mack, you don't have to-"

" _Yes!_ " the truck insisted. " _Yes I do! We're all worried about you, boss. I gotta make sure_ _you're okay. Come on. Let me take you to the airport and then I'll meet you back in Radiator_ _Springs in a couple days, all right?_ "

Lightning sighed and considered. For a second, he thought of insisting that he was fine and didn't need Mack to take him. However, he decided not to. He was grateful for this offer. He really didn't want to be alone and Mack _was_ his oldest friend.

"I... I'd like that", the race car admitted, slowing down to let Mack catch up. "Thanks, Mack."

"No problem, boss", the truck replied as he pulled up next to Lightning with the trailer.

The race car smiled gratefully as he reversed into the trailer and tried to relax on his way to the airport. _Just a couple more hours_ , he told himself, listening to "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton come through the radio and thinking to himself that the lyrics were rather fitting, _and you'll be home._

* * *

"Hey, sweetie!" Sally greeted Fudge as she entered her hospital room. She and the others still weren't allowed to see Fudge much, but had been allowed to go in and see her for a couple of minutes at a time for the past few days. Lightning was the only one that hadn't done so, though. After what happened the last time, he didn't feel like he was ready to go back in.

"Is everything okay, Sally?" Luigi questioned.

"Yeah", she assured them. "Yeah... I just thought I should you let you know I just spoke to Lightning on the phone. He's on his way home. I'll be heading to the airport in a couple of hours to meet him there."

Luigi nodded curtly while Guido asked a question in Italian, which Luigi then had to translate, even though he really didn't care.

"Did he talk to you about why he left the race?"

"It was too hard for him", Sally explained. "He was having flashbacks to Fudge's accident while he was racing. You know, because he..." She sighed. "He's been having nightmares about this whole thing too. Sarge thinks he's suffering from post-traumatic stress. You know Sarge knows about this kind of thing."

Guido nodded understandingly. "(It must be very hard on him)", he commented sympathetically.

"Guido!" Luigi cried in disbelief.

"(Luigi! I have told you he feels bad enough about what happened!)" Guido argued. "(If he is suffering from post-traumatic stress because of this, then he needs us to support him!)"

"Well, this is all his fault to begin with!" Luigi shot back.

The room was silent.

* * *

Lightning was silent for the entire flight home. He wouldn't even answer when the flight attendants asked if he wanted a drink or anything. Or when any of the passengers that had happened to see the race asked him about what happened (tons of reporters had followed him and Mack to the airport and had been asking him that too). After that race, he wanted nothing more than to get as far away from any racetrack as possible and just see Fudge. Sure, he'd been far too afraid to do that before, but it couldn't be any worse than what he'd just been through... Could it?

Those thoughts still occupied his mind when he landed, ignored the fans and press, who were asking him about a million questions about what had happened during the race, and made it to baggage claim where he spotted Sally immediately.

"Stickers!" she greeted him with a hug and a kiss.

A small smile spread across his face as he returned both the hug and kiss. "Hey, Sal!" Boy, was he glad to see her after all he'd just been through.

"You okay?"

"I don't know... I just couldn't do it."

"I know", she assured him. "I understand. None of us are mad at you."

"I just wanna get home."

"I understand that too."

"So... how's Fudge?" the race car questioned once he'd gotten his baggage and the two of them were out of the airport and alone.

"Still nothing", Sally reported quietly. "Still no news yet."

"Oh." Lightning's eyes filled with tears.

"Come on." Sally gave him another kiss. "We better get home. We can't see Fudge now. Visiting hours are over."

Lightning sighed. "Yeah... It's been a long day." After the day he'd had, all he felt like doing was going home and getting very, _very_ drunk.

"I know, I know."

* * *

Lightning expected to be bombarded when he returned to Radiator Springs. But he wasn't. His friends and family had also understood why he had bailed out of the race. So did Bobby, Cal, Rusty and Dusty and that lot. They all called (leaving voice messages while Lightning was getting wasted), not with questions, but to let him know that they were also there for him.

It was that understanding from those close to him that made Lightning know exactly what he needed- and wanted- to do: take a break from racing for a while and just surround himself with those he cared about, which included Fudge. He was going to see her again the first chance he got. No matter how scared he was. _Don't be such a wimp!_ he told himself as he tried and failed to get some sleep that night. _Fudge_ needs _you! And, like you said_ _before,_ _it can't be any worse than what you've been through today!_

If that day was how things were going to be from then on, Lightning didn't think there was any chance that he would be getting back on a racetrack anytime soon.

 **I felt like Lightning** **would have some post traumatic stress after Fudge's accident and racing would definitely make that worse. So, I decided to show that here. I've also tried to show that in _Need for Speed_ and _Lightning and the Thunder_.**

 **And remember the drawing Fudge did for Lightning in _Life Could Be a Dream_? He still has it! I thought if he put up photos of his family in his trailer by _Cars 3_ , then why wouldn't he put the drawing there too?**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Please review!**


	12. She's Awake!

**I think you can guess by the name of this chapter what's going to happen. I hope you're excited for that.**

 **Oh, and Chick has already retired in 2013 and has his _Chick's Picks_ show. I wasn't sure whether to make him be still racing or have his show in this story. I decided that the show would be more appropriate for this story.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

 **Chapter 12- She's Awake!**

" _Welcome to_ Chick's Picks with Chick Hicks!" you-know-who declared. " _I'm the_ _Piston Cup champion who needs no introduction: Chick Hicks!_ "

Lightning groaned for three reasons. One, he had a pounding hoodache from his hangover (Mater had had to tow him to the hospital that morning, he was so hungover). Two, he was still very upset over the whole thing with Fudge, obviously. Three, Chick. Chick Hicks had retired a couple of years ago and someone at RSN (Racing Sports Network) had had the bright idea of giving him his own TV show. He and the rest of the RS gang only ever watched the show out of curiosity. Now, the rerun from the night before was on in the hospital lounge the morning after the race while the RS gang and their spy friends apart from Luigi, Guido and Sammy were gathered in said lounge. So, despite the fact that it was just about the last thing he wanted to do, McQueen found himself watching his old rival's TV show.

" _Of course, first thing on the agenda: my old pal, Lightning McQueen! This is the first_ _time a Piston Cup racer has voluntarily bailed out of a race. Guess racing isn't as enjoyable_ _without me!_ " He laughed. " _So, McQueen hasn't commented on this, but his sponsors have._ _Here's what they had to say!_ "

The screen cut to footage of Rusty and Dusty outside the Rust-Eze sponsor tent.

" _We haven't heard from Lightnin' just yet_ ", Dusty reported, " _but we can easily assume that_ _racin' is too difficult with everythin' that he's been goin' through over the past month or so._ _You know, with his cheerleader bein' in the hospital and all._ "

" _Can we expect McQueen to return for next week's race?_ " a reporter called out.

" _Like we said, we haven't heard from Lightnin' yet!_ " Rusty responded. " _We're leavin' this_ _decision in his tyres entirely and so, we'll let you know when we hear from Lightnin'._ "

" _Oh, man!_ " Chick exclaimed. " _I think I might've retired a little too early! If I'd have known_ _beating McQueen would be this easy now, I would've kept goin'! You all know how much I_ _love to beat McQueen! Which I_ have _done!_ "

Lightning gave another groan. "You gotta be _kidding_ me!"

"How can he get away with _saying_ that?!" Sally wondered.

"Because he's _Chick_!" McQueen responded. "Do you think he knows about what happened to Fudge?! Or _cares_?!" Not only did Chick hate Lightning, but he hated Fudge too. When she was eight years old, Chick had blackmailed the little girl into stealing from the other townsfolk for him. Young and afraid, Fudge gave in to what Chick wanted. However, when she got caught by Sarge and Fillmore and learned that Guido had been arrested over it, she'd burst into tears and told Luigi everything, which led to Chick's arrest.

"I don't know, Stickers", Sally replied sympathetically. "Chick's just a jerk!"

The stock car sighed as he started to drive away. "Let's get out of here! Chick is the _last_ person I wanna see or hear right now!"

"Me too", the Porsche agreed, rolling off after him.

He ran into Dr. Wilson on the way past.

"How's Fudge?!" Lightning demanded.

Dr. Wilson hesitated. She knew who Lightning McQueen was, of course, and how close he was to her patient. Could she tell him? Of course she could. They were brother and sister."

"She's still in a coma", she reported. "Still no change yet, I'm afraid."

Lightning nodded sadly. "Right."

"She's getting better, though", the doctor assured him. "Everything is healing nicely. In fact, I am quite sure she's going to survive now."

Lightning's eyes widened. "Really?"

Dr. Wilson nodded. "Yes." She paused and then spoke seriously. "But that doesn't mean she definitely _will_. "

The stock car nodded and sighed with relief. "Even so, that is just what I needed to hear right now!"

"Well, I've got something else you might wanna hear", Sally piped up.

"What?" McQueen asked curiously.

"Chick's being slammed online for what he said about you and Fudge on his show last night." The Porsche showed her boyfriend her phone. "People are saying his comments were distasteful and insensitive. He hasn't apologised, but there is a massive push for him to."

Lightning looked at the phone and read all of the angry comments on the _Chick's Picks with_ _Chick Hicks_ Facebook page. "Wow!"

However, his good mood didn't last long. Luigi and Guido emerged from Fudge's hospital room. Guido greeted him and Sally warmly. Luigi greeted Sally warmly, explaining that he and Guido were just going to get a cup of coffee, and gave Lightning a hard glare before rolling off.

Sally sighed, watching the two Italians go. "I wish Luigi would start talking to you again."

"Yeah... Me too, but..." He shrugged as if to say, _What are you gonna do about it?_

"You know, Guido and I were talking last night... Both you and Luigi are going through a tough time... It would be so much easier for both of you if you just talked to each other."

"I _know_! I've _tried_!" Lightning pointed out. "It's Luigi, who's not talking to _me_!"

"I know, I know." Sally hugged him.

"But I don't really care about that right now!" the stock car insisted. "All I want is for Fudge to wake up, so I can tell her I'm sorry and that I love her!"

Sally said nothing, but nodded understandingly. Ever since Fudge had been put into her coma, Lightning had said he wanted to tell her that as soon as she was awake.

Lightning gave a huge sigh before he started to drive off slowly.

"Where are you going?" Sally wanted to know.

"I gotta find Ramone!" he responded.

"Why?"

"I got a favour I need to ask him and I wanna do it now before I forget!"

* * *

"Thanks, Ramone."

"No _problemo_ , man", the Lowrider assured him. "You like it?"

Lightning gazed at his reflection in the mirror. "Yeah", he answered, not sounding particularly happy. "This was exactly what I wanted."

Although unenthusiastic about it, he was right. This _was_ exactly what he'd asked for. Staring back at him was a plain red car. That was right. He'd gotten rid of all of his racing decals. He didn't want to be reminded of racing for the time being after all the pain and suffering it had caused him lately.

Ramone was quiet for a moment. "All right."

When Lightning started driving around town with a plain red paint job, the others looked slightly surprised, but all chose not to say anything. They all knew why the stock car had changed his paint job without him explaining.

* * *

Two days went by and very little happened with Fudge's condition. She was still in a coma. Nobody was particularly nervous, though. They had all been told that it was likely that Fudge was going to survive. It was just a matter of her waking up now. They all looked forward to that like someone stranded on an island looked forward to seeing a plane.

"It's not definite, though", the doctors would constantly insist. "Please don't get your hopes up."

"Nothing yet", Luigi and Guido kept reporting to their friends every night. "No news yet."

"Why ain't there no news yet?!" Mater demanded, his eyes swimming with tears. "It done been ages!"

"These things take time, Mater", Sally explained gently. "The accident was very serious. Her injuries aren't gonna go away just like that."

Lightning had tears in his eyes too. "God! I wish I hadn't done this! This is all my fault! Poor Fudge..."

At that moment, before Lightning could start sobbing, Luigi gave him an odd look. "Did you get a new paint job?"

There was a pause. "Yeah. Like, two _days_ ago!"

"I don't think when my daughter is in the hospital because of _you_ is the right time to be experimenting with new paint jobs!" the Fiat snapped.

Lightning just rolled his eyes.

* * *

Nearly two months had gone by since the accident and there was still no change with Fudge. Everyone was beginning to lose hope, despite the doctors' words.

"We can't give up on her!" Luigi insisted, despite how bleak things looked. "She is Guido's and my _daughter_! She is a sister or a niece to the rest of you! Fudge is our _family!_ You _never_ give up on family!"

All of them were getting sick of hearing the words, "Not yet. Nothing happening yet." They wanted something to happen.

Luigi and Guido would always enter their daughter's hospital room in tears at the lack of improvement in her condition.

"I'm starting to get worried she's not gonna recover", Sammy remarked ruefully on February twenty-eighth.

"Of course she is! She is going to be fine!" Luigi shouted, stroking his daughter's hand. He had just placed the headphones on her and put her iPod on. "She is not going to die!"

"I never said-" Sammy began.

" _She is not going to die_!" Luigi repeated forcefully.

The room was silent for a long time.

The silence was broken by a low groan. Luigi, Guido and Sammy gasped as their eyes shifted to the bed. Their daughter/sister was opening her eyes.

"Angel?!" Luigi gasped softly. They'd been instructed against using Fudge's name, so the doctors could test her memory.

He and Guido wondered if her eyes would close in a second, but they didn't. She just gave them a long, distant stare.

"Angel?" Luigi repeated.

"(Angel?)" Guido ventured. "(Can you hear us?)"

If Fudge heard them, she made no form of acknowledgement. Luigi and Guido didn't care, though. Her eyes were open and that was progress to them.

"Sammy!" Luigi cried, happy tears shining in his eyes. "Go and get Dr. Wilson!"

"On it!" the rainbow-haired woman called, racing out of the room.

Since her eyes were open, Luigi decided to slide the headphones away from Fudge's ears. His eyes widened as he realised what the song playing was: "Sh-Boom"! When Lightning had first arrived in Radiator Springs, hearing that song and seeing the town lit up in neon had reignited a spark of hope in all of the town's residents. Now, Fudge had heard it and she opened her eyes. Maybe it was just a song of hope. Maybe. Luigi definitely thought so.

Dr. Wilson was there in no time, assessing Fudge.

"Looks like the lights are on, but there's no one home", she reported, "but this is definitely a good sign."

Luigi's tears streamed down his hood. "Oh, I am so happy my little baby is getting better!"

Guido rushed to the phone to get in touch with Radiator Springs.

Sally, the one who answered the phone, gasped happily. "Really?! That's great!"

"(The doctors have said we can't say she's awake just yet because she's not responding)", Guido explained. "(But it is a good sign that her eyes are open!)"

"Of course!" Sally agreed. "Well, this is really great news! I'll tell the others!"

When she hung up, everyone pounced on her immediately.

"What is it?!" they all demanded.

Sally told them and they all launched into cheers and squeals of delight. She informed them that they couldn't say Fudge was awake just yet, but they all agreed it was a fantastic start.

* * *

That was how things were for the next few weeks. Whenever Guido and Luigi were with their daughter, her eyes would often be open, but she made no acknowledgement of their presence.

"I have missed those beautiful eyes of yours", Luigi whispered softly, kissing her. "Yes. You have such beautiful eyes." "When will she be awake?" he wondered at one point.

"I'm not sure", Dr. Wilson admitted. "This could still take a while. And you know, it still may not mean that she'll definitely recover."

Luigi nodded, but he didn't want to listen to that. Fudge was going to recover. He knew it, even if nobody else did.

* * *

After a few weeks, there was another development.

Luigi was just sat with his daughter while Guido had gone to get some more coffee. One moment, things were silent and the next, there were a string of sounds coming from Fudge's throat.

"Fudgie!" he gasped, convinced that she was trying to talk.

More sounds escaped her mouth as she stared up at him.

"What is it?"

The Fiat could've sworn he'd heard an _oo_ sound followed by an _ee_. He knew what his daughter was doing. She was trying to say his name!

"She's not necessarily trying to talk", a nurse named Ebony informed him when he told her. "Please just don't get your hopes up."

But Luigi knew his daughter. Nothing and nobody could convince him that she wasn't trying to say his name. Especially since when Guido returned, the sounds she made were an _ee_ and an _oh_.

"(She is saying our names!)" Guido exclaimed in amazement.

Luigi beamed. "I know."

* * *

A couple of weeks later, there was still very little change in Fudge's condition, but as her broken bones and other injuries healed gradually, her medication dosage went down just as gradually. She was looking a lot better, but wasn't responsive just yet.

Around the same time, it was Luigi's birthday.

"Don't get me any presents!" the yellow car had ordered his friends in the weeks before. "The only thing I want is for my baby girl to get better."

"Well, nobody can guarantee that's gonna happen", Sarge reminded him gently, but logically.

"I know..." Luigi's eyes had filled with tears. "But that is all I want!"

"Trust me", Lightning sighed. "If we could..."

Luigi didn't answer.

There were very few who believed that Luigi would be granted his birthday wish. Though, who was to say miracles couldn't happen? Believe me, they did.

* * *

Fudge wasn't feeling quite right. Only she didn't know why. She had just felt like she was asleep for a while- a long time; actually. Then, there was a period of time where she could hear what was going on around her, but she didn't have any of her other senses. She couldn't see, she couldn't smell, taste or touch. She couldn't really think either at this point and later didn't think she could've even told you her name. All the stuff she thought about what was going on at this point came in hindsight. She felt like she was dreaming.

The first thing she heard was the song "Sh-Boom" on repeat. Why, though? Who was listening to that music so loud? She was trying to _sleep_! That music was doing nothing to ease her pain!

After a while, the music stopped and she heard Luigi's voice. "Okay, Fudgie. I think that is enough music for now. Guido and I are going to get a cup of coffee, okay? We will be back soon. We love you."

"(We love you so much!)" Guido added. She could hear them kissing her, but not feel it.

Things were mostly quiet after that. She could hear people talking in the distance, but she couldn't tell what they were saying. They also didn't sound familiar; maybe they were customers in the tyre shop. Then, of course, there was a soft beeping sound that came in a slow rhythm.

Fudge had no idea how long this was going on for because she'd had no idea of time. All she knew was an unspecified amount of time later, she started to feel unwell. She was in a ridiculous amount of pain; it was radiating through her entire body. She felt dizzy and sick too, even with her eyes closed. This was probably the worst she'd ever felt in her life. Guido and Luigi would probably be wondering why she wasn't getting up soon. She didn't feel like she could even move, but she had to get out of bed to tell them that she didn't feel well; maybe even see if Flo would bring her breakfast over for her; if she _could_ eat, that was.

Even opening her eyes seemed like a massive effort. Her eyelids felt extremely heavy. It was as if they weighed a ton. Oh, God! It didn't help that the lights above her were so damn bright! She was practically blind!

As it was, her eyesight wasn't all that great when she was finally able to completely open her eyes. Plus, with how unwell she was feeling, it was hard for her to think straight. Even so, she could tell that something wasn't quite right. The room was grey and white with the exception of colourful flowers and balloons... But... Fudge's bedroom was blue and purple. And it was hard to read when her vision was so bad, but it looked like the giant balloons in front her read GET WELL SOON. This was not her room. An unfamiliar room. She wasn't feeling well. That slow beeping, which was now beginning to get annoying. Get well soon. Fudge was able to put two and two together pretty quickly. She was in the hospital.

Immediately, Fudge began to panic, prompting that annoying beeping sound around her to become even faster. She had a million questions and nobody around to answer them. Why was she in the hospital? She couldn't remember a thing. What had happened? Then, as more and more time went by, she grew more and more anxious about being alone. She thought that she needed to get up and go to the bathroom to throw up, but she felt so crappy that she couldn't move. Oh, God! Where were Luigi and Guido? Why weren't they with her? If she was in the hospital, they'd be with her... Wouldn't they?

Of course they would. Right at that moment, the door opened and Luigi and Guido rolled in. They set cups of coffee down and began rearranging a large bunch of stuffed animals (Fudge had received a giraffe from Sally; a pig from Sarge and Fillmore; an elephant from Finn, Holley and Sammy; a cat from Flo and Ramone; a dog from Guido; a frog from Luigi, a giant plush swan and a bear from Lightning and large collection of get-well-soon bears and even a Rasta banana plushie from some of the others as well as Lightning's racing friends and fans) and arranged them neatly at the end of her bed or in various spots around the room. They didn't look at her as they performed this task. Fudge wanted to ask them all of her questions, but she was weak and in a _lot_ of pain.

"Okay", Luigi announced, moving over to the head of her bed and kissing the top of her head. "We are back, angel. And all of your animals are here now, all neat and tidy."

"Luigi?" the twelve-year-old finally uttered. Even _that_ seemed to take up all of her energy. Her voice was so hoarse!

The Fiat looked up and did a double take. He was so used to Fudge not being fully awake lately. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. For a few seconds, he couldn't speak.

" _Angel_?!" he gasped. Then he began to cry as did Guido.

"(It is so good to see you!)" Guido wept.

"I am so happy you are awake! How do you feel?"

"Not good", the human girl mumbled. "I feel dizzy and sick and everything hurts...What's going on?!"

Before Luigi could answer, there was another voice calling out from outside the room. It sounded familiar, but with all of her fear, pain, illness and confusion, Fudge couldn't place it. "Luigi! Guido! What's going on?!"

"I don't know!" Fudge responded. "That's what I'm trying to find out!"

"Sammy!" Luigi called back. "Go and tell Dr. Wilson she has just woken up!"

"Roger that!" Sammy replied happily and they could hear footsteps going off down the hall.

"Wait! _Sammy's_ here?!" Fudge asked, confused, looking around madly. How did she get here so fast? I mean, Siddeley had afterburners, but even so...

"Don't move too much!" Luigi instructed gently. "You have fractured your neck."

"How?! What happened?! Luigi, _please_ tell me what's going on! You're scaring me!"

"Sssh..." Guido whispered soothingly, taking his daughter's hand. "(Please calm down, baby girl. Your doctor should be here soon. We will tell you what is going on in a moment.)"

"Why can't you tell me _now_?!" The girl was beginning to get afraid.

"(Dr. Wilson wants to see how much you can remember, that is all)", Guido explained.

"But I can't-" Fudge began.

"Hello", an unfamiliar voice greeted her. A woman, who was clearly a doctor, entered the room and approached her bed. "My name is Dr. Wilson and I've been taking care of you while you've been here. Now, I'm just going to ask you a couple of questions and I want you to answer them as best as you can. These are just to test your memory. If you can't answer them, don't worry about it, all right? Let's just see how we go."

Fudge went to nod, but then remembered what Luigi said about her neck. "All right."

"What is your full name?"

"Brittney Rossi-Topolino. Everyone calls me Fudge."

Dr. Wilson smiled. "I know. Now, Fudge, what is your date of birth?"

"June sixteenth, 2000."

"Right.. And how old are you?"

Fudge thought that that was an odd question, considering she'd just given her date of birth. Then she remembered hearing about people who woke up from comas, thinking that it was a completely different year. "I'm twelve."

"And do you recognise these two gentlemen?" Dr. Wilson gestured to Guido and Luigi.

"Yeah! They're my dads!"

Both of them beamed.

"Now, Fudge, can you tell me", Dr. Wilson began quietly after several more questions, "what's the last thing you remember?"

Boy, was _that_ a question to make Fudge think. She tried to remember what had happened before everything went black. The night before the accident, they'd all been up at the Wheel Well, having a little farewell celebration for Francesco. They just lounged around, talking, eating, laughing, singing karaoke, playing games and she had torn it up to "Gangnam Style" like she had done at the New Years party, making everyone laugh hysterically...

* * *

 _Fudge shouted out the lyrics, still busting out the moves._

" _Fudge!" Lightning chuckled. "Give it a rest! You_ know _I_ _hate that song!_ "

" _How can_ anybody _hate '_ Gangnam Style _?!'" she wondered._

" _Quite easily!" he informed her. "I hate it as much as Sarge hates Jimi Hendrix!"_

" _Yeah!" Fudge made a face. "Well, Hendrix_ sucks _!"_

" _Respect the classics, man!" Fillmore hollered, cracking everyone up._

" _Besides", Lightning went on, "tonight is supposed to be about Francesco, not_ you _! He's_ _leaving tomorrow!"_

"Si _!" Francesco piped up. "And you will-a miss him so much!"_

" _So, you guys are going to the airport tomorrow?" Fudge asked._

" _Yeah."_

" _Can I come?!" she questioned automatically. She loved long rides and the airport._

" _As long as it's okay with Luigi and Guido, it's fine with me", Lightning informed her._

" _It is fine", Luigi assured them and Guido nodded in agreement._

" _And first", Lightning went on, "we were planning on using the track in the city."_

" _Awesome!" Fudge cheered, continuing to dance._

" _Wow!"_ _Lightning chuckled, rolling his eyes._

* * *

She tried to recall anything that had happened after that, but her memory was really hazy.

"I remember being excited because Lightning said I could come with him and Francesco to the airport in the morning." She looked at Luigi and Guido. "You know, at the party we had for Francesco."

Guido and Luigi nodded.

"Oh, Fudgie!" the latter squealed in pure euphoria. "You are awake and talking! This is the best birthday gift I could have ever asked for!"

" _What_?!" The poor girl was so confused. "Your _birthday_?! What day is it today?"

"March twenty-eighth", Dr. Wilson replied. Nobody was surprised that she didn't remember the accident (Luigi and Guido had been warned that might happen), but it came as a surprise that she didn't remember the day of the accident at all.

" _What_?!" Fudge was in absolute disbelief. "But that means I've missed all of January, February _and_ March! This is _terrible_!" Her eyes were filling with tears.

"It is going to be okay!" Luigi assured her.

"No! No, it's not going to be okay!" Fudge shouted, tears stinging at her eyes and, for a moment, everyone, even Fudge herself felt like she was going to cry, but she didn't. She just tried to banish the thought of everything falling apart and focused on the one question that had been burning in her brain ever since she woke up.

"What happened?!" Fudge questioned hysterically. "Why am I in the hospital?"

"(You were in an accident while you were out racing with Lightning)", Guido explained slowly and gently, taking her hand.

"How bad is it?" Fudge wanted to know.

Luigi took her other hand and explained all of the injuries and surgeries and medications that had been going on while she was unconscious.

More tears began to pool in the twelve-year-old's eyes. "It's really bad, isn't it?"

Luigi nodded.

"Lightning?!" Fudge gasped. "Is he okay?!"

"(Fudgie! Don't worry about Lightning. He is fine!)" Guido assured her soothingly. He wanted to give her a hug, but he couldn't with all of those serious injuries. He had to settle for squeezing her hand. "(You fell off his roof. He is not hurt. Not hurt at all.)"

"At least until I get my tyres on him!" Luigi added bitterly.

"I... I wanna see him!" More tears came to her eyes. "I wanna see that he's okay!"

"You don't really want to see Lightning-" Luigi began.

" _Yes_!" Fudge insisted, thinking Luigi shouldn't be telling her what she did and didn't want. Why was he doing that? "Yes I do!"

"You know what?" Dr. Wilson announced thoughtfully. "I want to keep the number of guests to a minimum right now because she's already overwhelmed, but I don't think Mr. McQueen seeing her can do much harm."

"Really?" Fudge tried to dry her eyes.

"Yes."

Fudge tried to smile. "I'd like that!"

"(Does that make you feel better?)" Guido questioned.

"Of course." Fudge tried to smile a little bit, but was in too much pain.

"Does it hurt?" Luigi wanted to know.

Fudge wasn't sure what _it_ was, but it didn't matter. Her whole body hurt. "Yeah."

"Well, it's medication time now anyway", the nurse in the room, Sienna, announced, producing a needle.

"No!" Fudge cried. "Not a needle!" She _hated_ needles and it was going to be even worse with the amount of pain she was already in.

"Sssh, sssh!" both Guido and Luigi whispered, trying to get her to relax.

"Okay. Here we go..." Sienna injected the needle into her arm.

Fudge closed her eyes and prepared for the worst. However, she didn't feel a thing. Next thing she knew, Sienna was announcing, "All done!"

The girl felt like she should say something about how it didn't seem like Sienna had done anything, but decided not to. She wasn't about to argue with how good it had been to not feel the pain of the needle. However, she still didn't feel any of her original pain go away.

"Thanks..."

* * *

"Is she okay?!" everyone quizzed Sammy when she re-joined the others, having heard the news.

"She's fine", Sammy assured them all. "A little overwhelmed, but she looks a lot better now."

"Is she mad at me?!" Lightning demanded fearfully.

"Of _course_ not!" Dr. Wilson piped up, approaching "She's been _asking_ for you!"

"She has?"

"Yes. She doesn't remember the accident, but she's heard about it. We think she just wants to know you're okay. Now, she's not allowed to have too many visitors right now, but you can go and see her in a moment."

Lightning still hadn't really seen her since the night of the accident. Either because it was family only or he'd been too afraid to go in and see her. Now, he was finally going to see her for more than just a couple of seconds. He didn't feel so afraid this time around, knowing that Fudge was conscious and asking for him.

"Mr. McQueen?" a nurse named Phoebe appeared and called out his name. Sienna had sent her to get him.

The race car grinned, eager to see his sister. "Well, that's me!"

"Tell Fudge we love her!" just about everyone else requested.

"I will", he promised.

* * *

"How you feeling?" Sienna quizzed Fudge. "Better?"

"Yeah, but not by much."

"At least it's something."

Luigi nodded in agreement. "Yes. We have been so worried about you, my little angel! We are so glad to see you getting better."

"I don't feel better."

"Of course you don't." Luigi kissed her. "You will soon."

"I'll be back in a little while", Sienna informed Luigi, Guido and Fudge as she left the room to take care of other patients. "Mr. McQueen should be here any moment now to see Brittney."

Then, when _she_ was gone, Luigi turned to Fudge. "Fudgie? Luigi is just going to get a cup of coffee." Guido gave him a dirty look. "He will be back in a few minutes, okay?"

"No!" Fudge cried hysterically. " _Stay_!" Her eyes filled with tears. After everything that she had been told about that day, the last thing she wanted was either of her fathers leaving.

"Luigi!" Guido exclaimed in disbelief.

"Why do you have to go?!" Fudge whimpered.

"I will only be a few minutes", Luigi assured her again, kissing the top of her head. "Guido will be here with you. And so will..." He trailed off.

"McQueen?" Fudge supplied.

It was as if he had been unable to remember Lightning's name. "Yes. McQueen."

Guido gave Luigi another dirty look, but the Fiat still ignored him. He just gave his daughter another kiss. "I love you, Fudgie!" And with that, he drove out of the room.

Fudge looked to Guido with tears in her eyes. "(Why is Luigi leaving me?)"

The forklift took her hand and also kissed her. "(I don't know, angel)", he responded, which was the truth.

"(Guido, I'm scared and I don't feel well!)" Fudge pointed out, trying to dry her eyes. "(I need Luigi to be here with me!)"

"(I know you do.)"

Just then, there was a light tap at the door.

"McQueen?" Guido called.

"Yeah, it's me!"

"Come on in!" Guido spoke in English for once. He understood English very well and could speak it a little bit (very rough, broken English) when he wanted to or had to. Though, most of the time, he just didn't feel confident doing so. However, with Luigi mad at Lightning, the forklift had to speak English around the stock car more than ever.

"Is Luigi here?"

"No, he just left", Fudge responded bitterly.

"Come on in!" Guido repeated.

So, he did. The door opened ever so slowly and when Lightning came into the room, the first thing Fudge noticed was that he was wearing a plain red paint job with no decals in sight. Not even his lightning bolt or racing number. When did he do that? And why?

" _Fudge_!" he exclaimed, immediately beginning to cry.

The twelve-year-old was slightly alarmed. Up until that moment, the only times she'd ever seen Lightning cry were right after Doc died. It hurt, but a smile tugged at her lips. She was so glad to see him! Knowing how upset Fudge had been and how unhappy _he'd_ been with Luigi for leaving, Guido decided not to leave the room, but reversed back a little bit and remained silent to give the two of them a minute alone. Sort of.

"You don't know how happy I am to see you!" McQueen exclaimed, sniffling and unable to calm himself down. Like Guido, he wanted to give Fudge a big hug, but he, too, knew that that probably wasn't the best idea. She still looked very fragile.

"I'm really happy to see you too!"

"You okay?" he questioned worriedly. "How you feeling?"

"I've been better", she replied, to which Lightning couldn't help chuckling.

"That's what I've been saying the whole time you've been here", he informed her when she gave him a quizzical look. He brushed some hair off her face and took her hand. "All I've wanted is for you to wake up. I've been so worried about you. We _all_ have."

"Lightning?"

"Yeah?" He realised, with some fear, that she was missing several teeth like he thought. At least five or six teeth were gone, including her top two front teeth.

"What... What happened? You were the only one there when the accident actually happened, weren't you? Can you tell me what happened? Everything."

So, Lightning recounted the whole story for her from when she fell off his roof to when he saw her getting her T-shirt cut off and he was pushed away. Then he sighed as more tears welled up in his eyes and more sobs escaped from him. "I am so sorry! I can't believe I've done this to you! I can't tell you how sorry I am!"

"It's okay", Fudge assured him. She didn't think that it _was_ okay that she was in the hospital, but she didn't blame Lightning for what happened.

"No it's not! Fudge, you have no idea how worried I've been about you! And I am so sorry! This is all my fault!"

"No it's not!"

Lightning sighed again and gave her a kiss. "You know I love you, don't you?"

"Yeah..." _She_ gave _him_ a kiss. "And you know I love you too, don't you?"

"Yeah. Of course I do."

There was a silence after that. Lightning had finally told Fudge both of the things that he had wanted to tell her when she woke up: that he was sorry and that he loved her. Now that that was out of the way, he just held her hand and the two were silent for a long time. Guido didn't say anything either. He just parked there, watching them with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.

* * *

"Luigi, what are you doing?" the RS gang demanded, catching sight of the Fiat parked there casually, drinking coffee out of a paper cup. Needless to say, they were all surprised to see him there.

"Having a cup of coffee", he replied as if the answer was obvious.

"We can see that", Sarge informed him. "But why aren't you with Fudge?"

There was an uncomfortable pause.

"Because Lightning's in there!" Sally realised.

"When are you gonna get over that?" Sarge wondered with a sigh.

" _If_ I decide I am ready!" Luigi responded angrily.

"When can we see 'er?!" Mater questioned impatiently.

"Mater, Dr. Wilson has answered that already", Sheriff reminded him. "She said we could see Fudge in a couple days."

"Aw! Right!" Mater recalled.

"Well, visiting hours are almost over", Luigi announced with a sigh. "I should get back to Fudge soon."

"I'm sure you'll be sleepin' much easier tonight!" Flo commented with a smile.

It was no secret that Luigi was tired and had been a lot lately. When he wasn't with Fudge or lying in the darkness worrying about Fudge (with her in the hospital, paying the electricity bills hadn't exactly been Luigi and Guido's top priority and, therefore, they had had their power cut), he would be attending to some paperwork that only he could take care of; trying to restore order to the chaos that was going on in the tyre shop with Sarge and Fillmore running the place in Guido and Luigi's absence; returning some phone calls, using the phone at Flo's and trying to take care of finances in order to cover Fudge's medical bills. They were almost as worried about him as they were about Fudge. If he kept going like this, he was going to make himself sick.

Luigi smiled. "Yes. I am so happy she is awake!" He kept smiling as he added, "And so, I should get back to her."

And with that, he drove off to get back to his daughter.

* * *

"So, it's really been three months?" Fudge asked Lightning.

"Yeah, pretty much", Lightning replied. He brushed another strand of hair from her face. "Three months of worrying about you."

"I've been in hospital for three months?"

"Yeah", the race car repeated.

"When can I come home?" the tween wondered.

"I don't know, sweetie", Lightning answered honestly. He looked at Guido.

"(Not for a while)", Guido added, moving closer to her and taking her hand. "(You still don't feel too well, do you?)"

"No", Fudge admitted.

There was an uncomfortable silence before Guido dropped a bomb on his daughter. "(Right now, the doctors are not even sure if you will ever walk again.)"

"( _What_?!)"

"(You still might!)" the forklift assured her hurriedly. "(We don't really know right now. Not even the doctors are really sure. You have badly broken legs and pelvis and lots of swelling in your spinal cord.)"

"Okay", Fudge agreed dejectedly, knowing that it, indeed, it wasn't.

All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door.

"Fudge? Guido?" came Luigi's voice.

"(Come in!)" Guido called back.

"I should go", Lightning declared, kissing the top of Fudge's head. "Fudge? Once again, I'm really sorry I did this to you."

"Don't be!" Fudge insisted. "It was an accident!"

"I know, but..." He sighed, kissing her again. "I love you and get well soon, all right?"

"I love you too."

At those words, he rolled off out of the room as Luigi came in.

"Why'd you have to go?" Fudge demanded as soon as Luigi was back.

"I was only gone for ten minutes!" Luigi pointed out gently, ignoring the glare he was receiving from Guido. "I just came to say goodbye. Visiting hours are going to be over soon and Luigi and Guido will have to leave."

"But I don't want you to leave!" Fudge protested.

"I'm sorry", Sienna piped up as she entered the room, "but it's time for them to leave."

Luigi kissed his daughter. "Fudgie, be a brave girl. I love you."

"(I love you too)", Guido added.

After lots of kissing and begging on Fudge's part, Luigi and Guido left Fudge's hospital room reluctantly, not wanting to leave their daughter in that state, but having no choice. Though, Flo was probably right; they were most likely going to sleep a lot easier that night, knowing that Fudge was going to be okay.

Fudge, on the other tyre, wasn't going to sleep well that night. She wasn't entirely sure what the reason was- it could've been waking up from a coma in the hospital, the excessive amount of pain that she was in, the possibility of never walking again, Lightning's emotional visit, the fear and unfamiliarity of the hospital or Luigi and Guido leaving- but as soon as she was alone, the tears that had been building up in Fudge's eyes all afternoon finally spilled over and she began to cry.

 **The reason I made Fudge just opening her eyes a little and waking up entirely as one individual chapter is because I kind of want the story to move along. Not much is really happening for the characters while Fudge is in the coma, except what I've already described. So, I wanted to move onto the next thing.**

 **I mentioned Mater's birthday in a previous chapter. That was based on the _Cars 2_ end credits where you can see Mater's passport, which lists his date of birth as January 12th 1957 (the same as John Lasseter's). Luigi's birthday isn't based on anything. For some reason, I just imagined it as being March twenty-eighth. (In case you care, I've made Guido's birthday October twenty-fifth.)**

 **Please review.**


	13. The Family Visit (Part 2)

**I put this in the author's notes of a previous chapter, but I just want to say it again: I apologise in advance if my medical knowledge is inaccurate. I have done a little bit of research into it (and PTSD to show how Lightning is feeling), but I feel like I am really bad at researching. A lot of the medical stuff used in this story are based on things I've read/heard about, logic and/or narrative convenience.**

 **I do have an announcement at the end of the chapter, so I hope you'll stick around for that.**

 **Please enjoy.**

 **Chapter 13- The Family Visit (Part 2)**

"Guido? Is something wrong?" Luigi questioned as they were getting ready to go to sleep in their dark tyre shop.

The blue forklift had been quiet all the way home. (Other than that, their drive home that night had been a much easier one. Not only did they not feel as strong of a need to worry about Fudge, but the weather had let up a lot and it wasn't raining anymore.) Luigi had tried to talk to his best friend, only to be stonewalled. However, Luigi wasn't giving up that easily.

"(Yes, there is something wrong!)" Guido responded angrily. "(I don't think you were being very fair to Fudge earlier.)"

"(What are you talking about?)" Luigi was now speaking in his native language too.

"(You _know_ what I am talking about!)"

Luigi looked embarrassed. He _did_ know.

"(Fudge needed you to be there with her!)" Guido went on. "(She is your _daughter_ and she needed you! She _wanted_ you! You _have_ to talk to McQueen because this has been going on long enough and it is not fair to Fudge! You don't even have to _like_ him right now, but, at the very least, you should just be civil for Fudge's sake.)"

Luigi sighed. Talking to Lightning was the last thing he wanted to do, but he knew that Guido was right. Even _he_ had known all along that he wasn't being fair to Fudge.

"(Fine)", he relented and Guido could tell that he was being serious, albeit unhappy. "(I will talk to McQueen. But I want you to know that I am still very angry with him right now and do not _want_ to talk to him. But I will. For Fudge.)"

Guido gave a satisfied nod. " _Grazie_."

"(But for now, we should get some sleep)", Luigi commented.

" _Si_ ", Guido agreed. He could see that Luigi not only looked very tired, but he didn't look well either. Getting some sleep would definitely do him some good.

* * *

"So, how do you feel now that Fudge is awake?" Sally quizzed Lightning as they, too, were about to go to sleep on the other side of town.

Lightning gave a small smile. "Yeah! It was great to see her again! I got to tell her I'm sorry and that I love her."

"Well, that's great!" Sally commented. "I think having Fudge wake up has done all of us some good."

"Yeah", her boyfriend agreed. "She didn't seem too mad at me. Well, actually, she didn't seem mad _at all_."

"It wasn't your fault!" Sally reminded him. "These things happen."

The Porsche expected Lightning to argue with her, but he didn't. When she looked over at him, he was fast asleep. Sally smiled, especially when, even as the night went on, he didn't appear to have any nightmares. She had a feeling that, although Fudge had a long way to go in her recovery, things were going to get a lot better now.

* * *

Meanwhile, the tables seemed to have turned. Although sleep had now decided to be kind to the RS gang, it refused to come to Fudge that night. She was tired, but she couldn't sleep. For one thing, with the rough day she'd had, she was crying way too hard to sleep. For another, she was in a hospital, which meant that there were constant lights and noises to prevent her from sleeping. All of her fears came rushing back to her. Was it really possible that she would never walk again? It seemed to be hard to believe, even though she was in so much pain that she felt like she wouldn't move again.

Being in the hospital also meant that she couldn't get comfortable. She felt weird sleeping in her bed that wasn't her own and she was much more comfortable lying on her side, which she couldn't do with all of her broken bones.

She was kind of in a state of shock too. Last thing she remembered was having a party the night before the accident and next thing she knows, it's nearly three months later, she's in the hospital in unimaginable pain, unable to move and she'd been told that it was likely that she will never walk again. The tween was having a _How did this happen?_ kind of moment. It was just so hard to get her head around.

When sleep finally decided to show up, two things happened. The first was something that happened to Fudge every single time she got sick or injured over the past two and a half years. In fact, it had happened so many times that, while at first she'd been convinced that it was just a coincidence, she now knew that there was just no way that that was the case. She had a dream about Doc. It was a comforting thought, really, knowing that Doc was watching over her from who knew where. Come to think of it, he'd been there a lot while she was in her coma.

* * *

The second was that Fudge felt like it would take away some of the shock when she was awake again. Unfortunately, however, it did not. In fact, when Fudge awoke in the morning, she forgot where she was. Looking around at the grey and white room made her freak out just like she had the day before. She knew it wasn't her bedroom. She couldn't remember a damn thing from the day before. She didn't remember being told about the accident. She didn't remember Luigi, Guido and Lightning all coming in to see her. All she knew was that she was in the hospital. And there was nobody there with her.

" **LUIGI!** " she screamed in a panic. " **GUIDO! ANYONE!** "

At that moment, both of her fathers, who had already been on their way, came rushing into the room and parked by her side.

"Fudgie!" they exclaimed.

"Where am I?" she demanded, sounding very afraid. "What happened?!"

Both Guido and Luigi gave her an odd look. "Fudge", the latter began, quietly, puzzled as he took her hand, "do you not remember waking up yesterday? We told you what happened."

"I was here yesterday?"

"Yes", Luigi answered patiently. "You have been here for nearly three months, angel." Fudge looked shocked and confused because she _was_ , but didn't say anything. "You were in an accident with Lightning."

"(You fell off his roof while he was out racing with you)", Guido explained when Luigi went quiet. "(After you and McQueen dropped Francesco off at the airport, you went back to the racetrack and that's where you had your accident.)" He described the injuries she'd received.

"I might not walk again?!" Fudge sounded horrified.

"No", Luigi admitted. "But you still might. The doctors don't really know right now."

"(What about Lightning?! Is he okay?!)" Fudge wanted to know.

"(He is fine)", Guido assured her gently, holding his daughter's hand as tight as he felt he could. "(You were the only one hurt in the accident. He was not hurt.)"

"At least until I get my tyres on him!" Luigi chimed in.

"Where is Lightning?! I wanna see him!"

"Are you sure?" Luigi wondered.

"Yes!" Fudge insisted.

"Okay. Luigi will just let McQueen know you want to see him." He rolled out of the room.

* * *

"She can not remember a thing from yesterday", Luigi reported to the others when he saw them.

"That's normal", Finn assured him. "I've seen this happen to patients in this kind of situation before. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

Luigi nodded. "Okay. But I will still talk to Dr. Wilson about this. Can someone tell McQueen Fudge wants to see him?"

"I heard him", Lightning deadpanned as Mater was about to open his mouth and he drove off to go and see Fudge. He was not at all surprised when Luigi didn't follow him.

* * *

"Hey, Fudge-O!" Lightning greeted the twelve-year-old warmly as Dr. Wilson finished going through the same questions she'd asked the day before to see what the girl could remember. Her responses were the same as the day before.

"Hi... Where's Luigi?"

"I'm sure he'll be back soon", Lightning assured her, ruffling her hair playfully. "How you feeling, sweetie?"

"Not good. I just feel dizzy and sick and everything hurts."

"Yeah, I know." He kissed her gently. "Poor Fudge."

"I know", she mumbled. "Can you tell me what happened? Luigi said you were the only one there for my accident."

"Sure." Lightning was just as patient as Luigi and Guido had been as he repeated the story of her accident with as much detail as he could provide. By the time he was done, he had broken down in tears.

Fudge reached out for his tyre as best as she could with the amount of pain she was in, surprised to see him cry. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry!" he wept, taking her hand. "I... I just can't tell you how sorry I am that this has happened to you... You can't even remember that I told you this _yesterday_."

"It's okay", Fudge assured him quietly.

"No it's not! You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah... I love you too, Lightning."

* * *

This was how it was for the next week. Every single morning and several times during the day after sleeping, she would wake up with no memory of the accident, the entire day _of_ the accident or the day before. Luigi, Guido or a doctor or nurse would have to gently remind her of the accident, what day it really was, injuries, surgeries and medication. She would get scared, confused and upset. Then she would worry about Lightning and ask to see him. Luigi would leave while Lightning was with Fudge, telling her the whole story of the accident and that he was sorry. Most of the time, he would burst into tears while doing so and if not during, after. Then when she woke up the following morning, she'd forget the day before and they'd have to go through it all again.

She also had trouble with any short term memory. She would say something or ask a question, only to say it again no more than ten minutes later. Everyone would be patient and understanding. They would gently remind her that she'd already said whatever it was she was repeating and echo their response very calmly, very patiently. Not once did anybody get annoyed at her; no matter how many times they had to repeat themselves.

"It's what Fudge does", Sheriff commented with a weak chuckle one evening when they were all gathered at Flo's to discuss Fudge. "Always repeats herself."

Everyone chuckled a little bit too. Fudge always _did_ have a very repetitive nature.

"Yeah", Ramone agreed. "Only this time, she doesn't know she's doing it."

"I just hope this gets better soon", Lightning voiced his opinion, tears building in his eyes. "I... I hate having to tell her about the accident every day three times a day! That... That was the worst night of my life and every time I have to tell her about it, I... I just end up reliving it!" He started sobbing and Sally gave him a hug.

"Well, it is your own fault!" Luigi shot back.

And that was the end of _that_ conversation.

* * *

However, on one Saturday morning, things began to get better. Fudge knew what was going on as soon as she was awake. She was in the hospital. The pain was back. The sickness and dizziness were back. Her blurry vision was back. All of her fears and loneliness were back. How much longer was it going to be like this? All she wanted was to go home.

" _Ciao_!" two voices greeted her hours later after she'd forced down her breakfast and had been examined by a nurse.

"Luigi! Guido! _Ciao_!" Fudge tried to smile, but her it hurt too much.

"Are you okay?" Luigi wondered. _She remembers!_ he realised. This was a great relief because not only did the two Italians take it as a sign that their daughter was getting better, but watching her freak out every time she woke up, not knowing where she was or seeing her cry every time she was reminded of the accident and the details of her recovery always broke their hearts. No matter _how_ many times they had to do it.

"I missed you guys last night."

"We missed you too", Luigi assured her with a big kiss. "Everyone in Radiator Springs is very excited about you coming home."

"Me too..." Fudge agreed. "If I ever _get_ to come home." Tears formed in her eyes and she started crying again.

"Don't cry, Fudge!" Luigi took her hand and wiped several tears from her face. "Don't cry! It is going to be okay! I am sure you will be home soon!"

"I hope so..." But she sounded doubtful.

The day wore on. Luigi and Guido stayed with Fudge all day, except for when a nurse came to examine her again and they had to leave.

"Where's everyone else?" Fudge wondered at one point, noticing that none of the others had come to see her. The only ones she'd seen were Luigi, Guido and Lightning.

"They _want_ to see you", Luigi explained, "but they can't just yet. You have been through a lot over the last week and the doctors do not want you getting overwhelmed."

"When can I see them?"

"Tomorrow, I think."

"Okay..." But it wasn't. Fudge wasn't sure if she could wait that long; yet she knew that she had no say in the matter.

"When can everyone else come in and see me?" the human girl questioned two minutes later.

"Tomorrow, Fudgie", Luigi assured her. "I told you that two minutes ago, angel."

"Oh! Sorry."

Luigi gave her a kiss. "That is okay. You don't have to be sorry."

* * *

"(When are you going to talk to McQueen?)" Guido quizzed Luigi when they were kicked out again for Fudge's tests. They were just going to get a cup of coffee while they weren't allowed in the room.

"(I will talk to him tomorrow)", Luigi responded with a sigh as he sipped his coffee. "(I wanted to spend as much time as possible with Fudge yesterday and today with only us being allowed to see her. Especially with how upset she got with me for leaving.)

"(Yes, but we are not in there with her right now)", Guido pointed out.

"(I know)", Luigi responded, "(but I am tired. Maybe I will feel better tomorrow.)"

If Guido didn't know better, he'd say that Luigi was just making excuses. Although, he really _did_ look tired. Guido was really beginning to worry that his best friend was coming down with something. Anyway, Guido just nodded in response to Luigi.

* * *

"When is we gonna see Fudge?!" Mater demanded the next day as soon as he and the others arrived at the hospital and met up with Dr. Wilson. Luigi and Guido were already in the room with Fudge.

Dr. Wilson laughed. "You can all go in and see her in a moment. First, I just want to remind you not to make too much noise or mess with the equipment." Once again, she was looking directly at Mater.

Everyone promised.

"Okay. _Now_ , you can all go and see her."

"Thank you!" everyone chorused, eager to see the formerly-comatose baby of their family.

Fudge's eyes lit up when she heard the knock at the door. She couldn't do much else.

"They're here!" Fudge cheered.

"They are going to be so happy to see you!" Luigi informed her, planting a kiss on the top of her head. "They have been so worried about you!" Then he called out the door, "Come in!"

The door opened and Lightning, Sally, Mater, Sarge, Fillmore, Sheriff, Flo, Ramone, Red, Lizzie, Finn, Holley, Sammy and RJ came flooding in.

"Fudge!" everyone gasped, overjoyed at the sight of her wide awake and talking coherently.

"Hey, Fudge-O!" Lightning made a beeline for her side. He, especially, had been desperate to see her. He wanted to spend every moment that he possibly could with her.

Fudge burst into tears. "I'm so glad to see you guys!" She really was. It was good to see that RJ, Sammy, Finn and Holley were there too and she noticed that Ramone had the same paint job she last remembered him having.

"We is glad to see you too!" Mater came charging towards her to give her a hug.

"Be careful, Mater", Luigi cautioned, but he was smiling. "She is still very fragile."

Fudge was just laughing, though it hurt.

"How are you?" Sheriff questioned.

"You okay, man?" Fillmore added.

"No", Fudge admitted. "I'm still in a _lot_ of pain... I feel sick and my vision's blurry..." She couldn't look at Lightning as she spoke. Even with terrible eyesight, she could tell that he was looking guilty and that made _her_ feel guilty. "But I'm really glad to see you all."

"Dr. Wilson said your vision might be bad", Luigi reminded her. "It is because of the injuries to your head. I think she said she will send an optometrist to come and see you."

"Well, you look a lot better than the last time we saw you", Finn commented with a smile.

"Thanks... But I don't _feel_ better."

"I'm sure you will soon", Sally assured her.

"Yeah, things just suck right now", RJ pointed out. "Besides, you haven't seen how bad you were while you were in the coma."

"Yes", Luigi agreed gently. "You do not know how far you have come."

"So, what's going on back home?" Fudge wanted to know.

"Not much", most of the others replied. "We've been too busy worrying about you."

"Though, Fillmore keeps giving away tyres in the tyre shop without the customers paying for them!" Sarge informed her, prompting laughter from the group.

"Love is the universal currency, man!" Fillmore fired back.

 _At least_ one _thing hasn't changed_ , Fudge thought to herself happily at their bickering.

"Yes!" Luigi chuckled. "Fudgie needs to get better, so Luigi can take care of the shop." He gave her a kiss as everyone laughed again.

"I'll try!" she promised.

"Yeah, we all miss you, Fudge-O!" Lightning informed the girl, ruffling her hair playfully as he gave a watery smile. It was still really hard for him to see her like this.

So, Fudge listened and smiled as best as she could with her the amount of pain she was in as her family filled her in on the latest news around Radiator Springs such as how well the new drinks at Flo's were going (the same ones Flo had told Fudge about on the day of her accident) and Mater's latest tractor tipping adventure (Sheriff heard, but he was far too focused on Fudge to care).

"Tractor tippin' sure ain't the same without ya, Fudge", the tow truck commented.

"When was the last time I went tractor tipping with you, Mater?" Fudge wondered.

"I don't know", he admitted, "but it was better when I done got back to town and I knew I was gon' see ya soon."

"Why'd you have to say _that_?!" Fudge sniffled. "I just stopped crying!"

Everyone gave weak chuckles.

"Well, we can't wait to have you come home, kiddo", Sheriff informed her.

"Thanks... I can't wait to _get_ home, but I don't think that's gonna be for a while."

"Well, you're tough, soldier", Sarge assured her. "We all know you are. I'm sure you'll be out of here sooner than you think."

"I hope so..."

"We all do", Lightning agreed, taking her hand. His eyes looked awfully bright. So did everyone else's.

"So, what's going on back home?" Fudge quizzed the others once another ten minutes had passed.

Luigi gave the others a look, which Fudge didn't notice that clearly said, _This is what I was_ _talking about._ Still, the others were just as patient as Luigi and Guido had been as they repeated her responses.

* * *

About half an hour later, there was a knock at the door as Matt the nurse came in along with Dr. Wilson.

"Time for tests and medication!" Matt announced cheerily. "Anyone who's not Brittney's father, out you go!"

"McQueen? Would you mind waiting outside?" Luigi asked. "There is something I need to talk to you about."

"Sure!" the race car agreed, sounding pleasantly surprised. Luigi had still been giving him the occasional glare while they'd been talking to Fudge.

"We'll come and see you later", everyone promised, giving Fudge kisses and hand squeezes in the place of hugs as they told her that they loved her and to get well soon.

"I'll miss you!" Fudge informed them all.

"Aw, we'll miss you too!" they all responded sympathetically. "But we'll be back soon, all right, Fudge?"

"Okay", she agreed, managing a small smile, which the others returned.

"That's our Fudge!" they proclaimed.

When the door closed, Fudge found herself not that concerned about the tests and medication, which she normally dreaded. Seeing her friends and family had cheered her up so much!

 **I know RJ hasn't been in this story all that much, but that's because he was originally supposed to show up much later. I was originally going to reveal that Fudge and Sammy were sisters later on in this story.**

 **Aww! Fudge is happy. Unfortunately for her, something bad is about to happen. Remember how I mentioned a couple of other people besides Fudge go through a tough time in this fic? Well, the first one happens in the next chapter.**

 **Okay! Onto something a little more positive: my announcement! *Drumroll* I was thinking... if you guys were interested, at the end of _Ride_ , _Driven to Win_ and maybe _COTSLOF_ , I could do an interview where you can submit your questions for the characters (both canon and my OCs) and they will answer them. What do you guys think? Yes? No? Either way, don't give me your questions yet. They could be answered in the story. If you have questions, please wait until I say so to submit them.**

 **What you _can_ do now, though, is review, so please do! :)**


	14. Luigi!

**Well, I guess I just gave away the victim of the bad thing that happens in this chapter, didn't I? Oh, well. You can still enjoy the chapter. Sort of.**

 **Chapter 14- Luigi!**

"Where did everyone go?" Fudge wondered as Dr. Wilson got ready to inject the needle into her arm.

"They had to leave while your tests were being done", Luigi explained. He gave her a kiss. "They will be back soon, okay?"

Fudge's only response was to look out the window and exclaim, "Hey! It's raining!"

Luigi chuckled. "Yes. The weather has been very bad while you have been here."

The medication still made Fudge feel _very_ tired, so after she'd had it, she decided to take a nap.

"Will you be here when I wake up?" she quizzed her fathers drowsily as her eyes began to close. She could barely stay awake.

"Of course!" Luigi promised, squeezing her hand. "Luigi needs to talk to McQueen, but we will stay right here with you. You just go to sleep."

"Okay..." And just like that, she was out cold, making both of her fathers smile fondly.

Luigi rolled towards the door and opened it. "McQueen?" His voice was flat.

The stock car looked his way. "Yeah?"

Without a word, Luigi gestured for him to come into the room just as they heard thunder crack outside.

"Hey, Fudge-O!" Lightning whispered, going over to the bed and kissing the sleeping girl.

"McQueen?" Luigi repeated.

He dragged his eyes away from Fudge. "Yeah?"

"I think we need to talk."

"I think we do."

"Over the last few days", Luigi began, "Fudge has been very upset whenever I leave her while you came in. And if there is one thing I do not like, it is upsetting my daughter. And Guido thinks I should be civil to you..."

"I think that would probably be best for Fudge", Lightning agreed, sensing that Luigi wasn't going to apologise. "She needs to know the people she cares about are all here for her. With everything she's going through, the last thing she needs is us b**ching about each other."

Luigi nodded curtly. "I agree. _But_ this does _not_ mean I forgive you!"

"Luigi!" Guido piped up.

"Look", McQueen responded, "I don't blame you for being mad at me. I would be too if I was in your position. I'm really sorry about what's happened to Fudge, but you _know_ I didn't do this to her on purpose, right?"

" _Yes_." Luigi was beginning to sound _very_ annoyed. He thought that he could be civil to Lightning, so he could focus on Fudge, but he just couldn't. Every time he saw the stock car, he just thought about what he had done to his daughter and that was enough to make his oil boil. "But this would never have happened if you were not being responsible! I was afraid that this would happen if my daughter got involved with racing, but I _trusted_ you to keep her safe!"

"Luigi!" Guido repeated. He couldn't believe it! He had been hoping for the two of them to have a mature adult conversation and be civil at the very least, but it looked like _that_ wasn't going to happen.

"I don't know what you want me to do!" Lightning's voice was rising. "I've apologised a million times! I've been here with Fudge whenever I can!" He rolled closer to the Fiat. " _What do you want me to do, Luigi?!_ "

"I want you to stay away from my daughter!" Luigi shouted, also rolling in closer. For a second, he was worried that he was going to wake Fudge up, but she'd been dead to the world whenever she slept lately. "I do not want to see you anywhere near her again!"

McQueen was speechless. "You... You can't do _that_!" he stammered.

"I can and I will! Get out of here!"

"And what's Fudge gonna say when she finds out I can't see her anymore?! She still cares about me! I _know_ she does!"

"That is not important!" Luigi argued. "Fudge is my daughter and I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe!"

"What do you think I'm gonna do to her?!" Lightning retorted. "Take her home and just let her play with knives and fire?!"

"I..." Luigi trailed off as his eyes went really wide. He seemed to be gasping for breath. He could barely stay upright.

Right away, Guido became concerned. "Luigi?"

So did Lightning. "Luigi, what's wrong?"

"Pain..." he replied in a raspy voice. "In my engine!"

Things went from bad to worse when Luigi toppled over! He was still conscious, but he couldn't get up.

"Luigi!" Guido and Lightning shrieked simultaneously.

As if things weren't bad enough, all of the noise woke Fudge up and her eyes widened. "Luigi!" she screamed.

Immediately, Lightning rushed to her side and closed the curtain around her bed. Luigi had heard the sheer terror in her voice and felt even worse because of it.

"Luigi, what's wrong?!" Fudge demanded.

"Guido! You look after Luigi; I'll stay here with Fudge!"

"Okay!" Guido agreed.

Thank Chrysler the door burst open at that moment and in came a nurse named Monique.

"Is something wrong?" she questioned, only to spot Luigi half a second later. "Oh, my gosh!"

"I... I think I am having an engine attack!" the Fiat announced weakly.

Fudge burst into tears and Lightning squeezed her hand comfortingly.

Monique examined him. "I think so too", she observed, "but nobody panic. The car hospital is across the street! We need to get you out of here!"

Guido rushed forward to help his best friend up and carried Luigi out of the room and down the hall. He turned around and called behind him, "(I will let you know when we have some news!)"

* * *

As soon as they were gone, Sammy appeared. "What's going on?" she wondered.

Lightning told her.

"S**t!" Sammy exclaimed in disbelief.

"I'll stay here with Fudge!" Lightning volunteered. "Sammy, you go and tell everyone else what's happened!"

"You got it!" Sammy raced out of the room towards the lounge.

"Lightning?"

"Yeah?"

"Is Luigi gonna be okay?"

There was a pause. "I don't know", he answered honestly. "I hope so."

"I don't want him to die..." the girl sobbed.

Lightning had no idea how to respond to that. Fudge's face was white and she was shaking, despite how little she'd been able to move her body lately. The girl was really scared. He wanted nothing more than to give her a big hug, but he couldn't do that with how fragile she was at that moment. It was so frustrating for both him and Fudge just having to settle for squeezing her hand. Plus he couldn't even do that very much either. He gave her another kiss on the top of the head.

"It's gonna be okay", he whispered soothingly, but he wished he could be sure if that was true; just like the last time he told her everything was going to be fine. "Why don't you finish your nap? Guido might be back when you wake up."

"Okay..." Fudge flopped back and tried to close her eyes.

* * *

"Hey, guys..." Sammy began awkwardly as she approached the RS gang. "I... kinda got some bad news..."

"What?!" Immediately, everyone was sent into a panic. "Is Fudge okay?!"

"Fudge is fine! It's not Fudge..." She took a deep breath, knowing that she would just have to get this over with. "Luigi's having an engine attack."

" _What_?!" everyone exclaimed.

"Oh, no! That's awful!" Sally cried.

"How's Luigi, man?" Fillmore questioned.

"Is it serious?!" Flo added.

"I don't know", Sammy answered, taking a seat and putting her feet up. "Guido said he'd let us know when he had news."

"How's Fudge takin' it?" Sheriff wanted to know.

"About as well as you would expect", Sammy responded quietly. "Lightning's in there with her." She paused and added, "I think it'll be best if we just leave them alone for now."

"Yeah", everyone agreed.

"I can't imagine what she must be feeling right now", Sally sighed. "She needs Luigi by her side, but obviously, he's not there."

"I guess now we just go back to waitin'", Sheriff proclaimed with a sigh.

"Yeah..."

Everyone went silent, worrying about Luigi and Fudge.

* * *

"How you doing, Fudge-O?" Lightning wanted to know once half an hour had passed. The only sound that she made in all of that time was sobbing, having given up entirely on trying to sleep.

"I don't know... That was really scary... Seeing Luigi like that."

"Yeah, I know." He kissed her.

"Engine attacks can kill people, right?!" she asked fearfully.

"Yeah", Lightning admitted, "they can, but they don't always. Try not to worry about Luigi. We don't really know anything just yet. It's all right."

"I hope so."

Fudge was silent for a while until...

"Lightning?" Fudge's voice was so soft that the stock car wasn't sure that he'd heard her at first.

"Yeah?"

"It's Sunday, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it is."

"And what's the date today?"

"April twenty-first."

"April... I've been asleep for so long I've lost track." She gave a weak chuckle, making Lightning give one too. "So, there's a race on today, isn't there?"

"Yeah. Yeah, there is."

"Why aren't you there?"

McQueen squeezed her hand and kissed the top of her head. "I think that's obvious. I wanted to be with you. I'm not going back to racing for a while. Not until you're better." He didn't tell her about the PTSD he suffered as a result of being back on the track; he didn't want to scare or worry her more than she already was. "All of my racing friends have been asking about you, though. Some fans have too..." He gestured to the cards, flowers, balloons and stuffed bears around the room. "Did you know a lot of these came from fans? They all know what's happened to you. It's been all over the news."

"Yeah." Fudge tried to point to a soft, brown bear with bandages wrapped around its forehead and foot, a Band-Aid on his head and his arm in a sling (it was obviously one from the little shop in the hospital), but she was too weak to point. "This one's from you, isn't it?"

Lightning picked it up. "This one?"

"Yeah."

"It sure is. I got you the swan too."

Fudge smiled. "I named my bear Ouchie Bear."

"Ouchie Bear?" Lightning repeated.

"Yeah... Because look at it. It's covered in bandages. Plus, that's how I feel right now... Ouchie!"

Lightning couldn't help chuckling, but his guilt over Fudge's accident just came crawling back to him with that one innocent statement. So, he decided to changed the subject.

"How'd you know that one was mine?"

"Luigi read me all the cards and stuff and told me who they were from..." She trailed off uncomfortably.

"Fudge!" Lightning exclaimed helplessly. Everything's gonna be fine. You're still gonna have Luigi. Don't you worry about that."

"I just want Luigi to be okay."

"I'm sure he will be."

But Lightning went silent after that. He was starting to experience a pang of guilt. Not only did he put Fudge in the hospital, but it triggered a chain of events that put _Luigi_ in the hospital as well. There was no way that he was ever going to get his friendship with the Fiat back on track.

* * *

A little while later, the spies and entire RS gang minus Luigi and Guido were gathered in Fudge's hospital room while she was asleep.

"We still haven't heard from Guido", Sheriff reported.

"She's really worried about Luigi", Lightning informed the others.

"I can't blame her", Sarge commented. "Poor kid."

"I guess she's worried about being alone right now", McQueen went on.

"With everything that's going on right now, I understand why that would scare her", Sally agreed with a nod, "but Fudge is never going to be alone."

"Absolutely not!" they all agreed without a nanosecond of hesitation.

"She'll always have a family!" Flo insisted.

* * *

" _Ciao_!" a voice called out as Guido entered the room again.

"Guido! Is Luigi okay?!"

"Was it an engine attack?!"

"(Minor)", Guido assured them all. "(He is going to be just fine.)"

Once Finn translated, everyone burst into cheers, which caused Fudge to wake up.

"What's going on?" she mumbled sleepily.

"Guido's back!" Lightning announced.

"How's Luigi?" Fudge wanted to know.

"(He is going to be just fine)", Guido repeated, taking her hand. "(He is resting now, but he should be able to come back to see you in a few days.)"

"(I'm going to miss him!)" Fudge proclaimed, eyes filling with tears.

"(I know and he is going to miss you too)", Guido informed her. "(He is very sorry he can't be with you, but he needs to rest.)"

"Do we know what caused the engine attack?" Sarge asked.

Lightning began to feel his guilt crawl back. He knew it was because of him.

Not surprisingly, Sammy interpreted Guido's response as, "It appears to be caused by the grief and stress Luigi's been feeling lately."

Everyone nodded sadly.

"I was worried this might happen", Sally remarked.

"He _has_ been looking very tired and unwell recently", Sarge reminded them all, as if they needed reminding.

* * *

It was at that moment that there was a knock at the door and Dr. Wilson came in.

"Well, it's time for your tests and medication again, Fudge." She caught sight of the crowd in the room. "How's Luigi?" She'd heard about what had happened.

"It was a minor engine attack and he's fine", Lightning reported.

"Well, that's good", she declared, "but I'm afraid it's time for all of you to leave."

"No!" Fudge cried, her tears starting up again. "I want you to stay!"

"I'm sorry, Fudge", Dr. Wilson responded, "but it's time for your family to leave."

" **NONONONONONONONO!** " Fudge shrieked, bawling her eyes out as they all started filing out of the room.

"We gotta go, sweetie", Lightning informed her sympathetically. "We'll be back first thing in the morning, all right?"

"No!" she cried. " _Please_ stay!"

"We can't stay."

"Don't worry. Everything's gonna be just fine."

"Wait! How's Luigi?!" Fudge exclaimed abruptly. "Guido said he'd let us know when there was news, but I haven't heard anything!"

"(It's all right)", Guido assured her, coming forward and squeezing her hand. "(I am here now. It was a minor engine attack and Luigi's just fine. He's resting now, but he should be back to see you in a couple of days, all right?)"

"All right..."

"Don't worry about Luigi, Fudge", Sally sympathised. "I told you what Guido said. He's going to be just fine."

"I know..." she sniffled. "I just wish he was here... I... I don't wanna be alone."

"Fudge." Lightning took her hand. "You are not going to be alone in this, all right? We promise we won't let that happen."

"You got a loving family, who care about you so much", Sammy chimed in. "Of course we're never going to let that happen."

Fudge gave a watery smile. "Yeah..."

"We're all here for you, Fudge!" they all insisted.

Everyone crowded around the bed and kissed the girl on the cheek or the top of her head, telling her that they loved her and that everything would be okay. And then they were gone.

When the door closed, Fudge's sobs grew even louder. She felt so alone, even with Dr. Wilson right there, examining her.

"You've had a rough day", the doctor commented once she'd seen that Fudge's condition was nothing out of the ordinary and she'd been given her medication. "You should try and get some-"

She stopped short, realising that the twelve-year-old was fast asleep. That was one of the side effects to the medication she'd been receiving, but that was quick.

"Rest", Dr. Wilson finished her sentence quietly with a little chuckle.

Some things just never changed.

 **Aww! Poor Luigi! And poor Fudge! Well, poor everyone in this story. There are a lot of bad times in this story, but things do get better; just not for a while. (And I feel like it's too early into the story for Lightning and Luigi to make up.)**

 **Please review.**


	15. A New Look For Fudge

**Today is exactly one year since I finished writing this story (not including the overhaul I gave it about a month ago). So, to celebrate, here's a new chapter! Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 15- A New Look For Fudge**

" _Buon giorno_!" Guido called, appearing in the doorway and looking into the room.

Luigi smiled. He looked tired and unwell as he parked there, like Fudge, hooked up to an IV, but very happy to see his best friend. " _Buon_ _giorno_!" he echoed.

"(How are you feeling?)" the forklift wanted to know.

"(I am tired)", he responded, "(but other than that, I am doing okay. I think the more important question is, How is Fudge?)"

"(She is fine)", Guido assured him. "(She misses you, but she is fine.)"

That response brought tears to Luigi's eyes. "(I miss her too. I really wish I was there with her)", he remarked. "(She needs me and I am not there.)"

"(Try not to worry about Fudge. She is just as worried about you as you are about her. She is being well looked after by the doctors and nurses. I am going to go back and see her soon and McQueen is with her now.)"

Luigi gave a hard glare.

Guido sighed. "(You are not going to let this go, are you?)"

"(Guido! Every time I look at him, it reminds me of what he did to my- _our_ daughter! How can you be okay with it?!)"

"(It was an accident, Luigi!)" Guido insisted.

"(And now he has given me an engine attack!)" Luigi went on bitterly.

"(No he has not)", Guido disagreed. "(Your engine attack was no one's fault. It was just something that happened.)"

Luigi had been about to disagree when a nurse came in. The subject was changed as a result and Guido knew that while Luigi had managed to get out of making up with Lightning for a long time, he couldn't avoid it forever.

* * *

"Where's Guido?" Fudge quizzed her family, sans her fathers, and the spies, who were all gathered in her hospital room, for the millionth time.

"He's just gone to see Luigi", Holley replied. "He should be back soon."

"Okay..."

"Guido will be back soon", Sally repeated.

"So, what happened to Luigi?" Fudge wondered. "I mean, I _know_ he had an engine attack, but how did it happen?"

"You didn't see?" Sally asked in surprise.

"No. I was asleep."

"It was all so fast, Fudge-O", Lightning explained. "One second, he was fine. The next, he just couldn't breathe."

"Has anybody heard from Guido recently?" the twelve-year-old wanted to know.

"Yeah, he just came by to give us an update", Sally reported. "He says Luigi's doing fine and he'll be back here to see you as soon as he can."

"I miss Guido", Fudge commented sadly.

"What about Luigi?" Ramone wondered, voicing everyone's confusion. "Don't you miss _him_ too, Fudge?"

"Well, yeah, but he hasn't been coming to see me that much. Even before he had the engine attack. Why hasn't he been coming to see me?"

"It's probably hard for him", Finn pointed out. "You're his daughter. It must be hard for him to see you like this."

"I guess..." That made sense to Fudge. If it was the other way around, it would be hard for her to see Luigi in that state, but she still missed him.

Not wanting to talk or even think about the recent lack of Luigi anymore, Fudge changed the subject. "Do you know when this guy's supposed to be here?" Since her blurry vision hadn't gotten any better over the last couple of days, Dr. Wilson had informed Fudge that an optometrist would be coming to see her at some point during the day to examine her eyes. Normally, he didn't come to patients, but he made an exception for Fudge since she was still in the hospital and the sooner this got sorted, the better.

"Dr. Wilson said he should be here sometime this afternoon", Lightning reported. "Not sure when exactly."

Fudge nodded.

* * *

"Will Guido be back soon?" Fudge wondered. "I thought he'd be back by now."

It was a couple of hours later. All of the others, except for Lightning, had left and she was worried about Guido not coming back. It was mostly quiet, though the radio was on. Fudge loved music and often found listening to the radio in her hospital room very comforting.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon", Lightning assured her.

"It's bad enough Luigi hasn't been here with me!" Fudge cried as tears pooled in her eyes. It took only a fraction of a second for her to start crying again.

Lightning sighed and took her hand. "All right, Fudge-O. You wanna know why... why Luigi hasn't been with you all that much?"

Fudge tried to nod. "Yeah. Very much."

Another sigh came from the race car before he responded with, "It's because of me."

"You?" Fudge repeated in surprise.

"Yeah... Luigi's mad at me for what had happened to you. You know, you being here. He can't stand to be around me. Right before he had his engine attack, he... he even told me... that he doesn't want me anywhere near you again."

"He can't do that!" Fudge wept.

"I know."

"I mean... Luigi's in the hospital, Guido's sometimes with him, being here makes me miss Doc... because, you know, _he_ used to take care of me when I wasn't well... I don't want to lose you too!" Fudge broke down and cried harder.

"Hey! Fudge-O!" Lightning squeezed her hand as tight as he dared and he brushed a tear off her cheek. "You will _never_ lose me, all right? I promise you. That is never going to happen. I won't _let_ that happen." He kissed the top of her head.

"I know..." Fudge sobbed. She listened to the radio and found the song very fitting: "I Won't Let You Go" by James Morrison.

"Hey, Lightning?"

"Yeah?"

"Have I asked you for a favour yet?" She seemed to notice her repetitive nature too.

"No. What do you want, Fudge?"

"Do... Do you think you- or someone else- can get my journal from home? It's under my bed in that Christmas box I got a couple of years ago. Oh! And a pen to go with it?"

"Uh... Fudge? You know you can't write, right?" Lightning gestured to her broken wrist and fingers still in a cast.

"I know", she assured him, "but I was thinking I could get someone to write _for_ me. I think I should have a record of this. You know, to remember what I was thinking and feeling while all of this was going on."

Lightning smiled. That made sense. "Yeah. Probably a good idea."

* * *

There was a knock at the door and an unfamiliar man- a beige Cadillac- entered.

"Hello!" he called out.

"Hi!" Lightning and Fudge responded in unison.

The Cadillac focused on Fudge lying in her hospital bed. "You must be Brittney. I'm Dr. Ian Sawyer", he introduced himself. (Dr. I saw ya?) "Dr. Wilson says your eyesight is giving you some trouble. So, she sent me to come and have a look. She said your parents aren't here right now, but they know what's going on." He glanced up at Lightning. "And who is this?"

"My brother", Fudge answered.

"Oh! Well, I'm afraid he's going to have to leave. I think it'll be best if we're alone for this. I'm just going to look at your eyes, all right?"

"All right", Fudge agreed fearfully, looking to Lightning.

"I'll be back as soon as I can", Lightning assured her, sensing her nervousness.

"You promise?"

"Promise." He kissed the top of her head. "And Guido might be back by then."

The thought cheered her up immensely as Lightning rolled out of the room.

And what do you know?! As soon as McQueen left the room, he was met by Guido.

"What is going on?" the forklift questioned in slow, rough English.

"The eye doctor's in there, just taking a look at her. He wanted to be with her alone while he did that", Lightning explained.

Guido nodded. "I... make sure she... okay."

Fudge grinned when she heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Dr. Sawyer called out before the girl could say anything.

"Guido!" came Guido's voice.

"Fudge's father!" Lightning clarified.

"I... think it would be easier to do this with just Brittney and me alone."

"Okay!" Guido responded. "Fudge, you... okay?"

"Yeah!" Fudge assured him.

"(I can't come in, but I will see you soon, okay?)"

"Okay!" his daughter agreed. "(I love you!)"

"(I love you too!)"

"We should probably leave them to it." Lightning led Guido away from the closed door. "You wanna get some coffee or something?"

Guido nodded gratefully. " _Si. Grazie_."

* * *

"How's Luigi?" everyone quizzed Guido when they saw him getting a cup of coffee.

"Better", the forklift replied. "He... still miss Fudge."

"Not surprised", Finn proclaimed with a nod.

Guido continued to speak and Finn translated. "You would probably be allowed to see him now and Guido's sure he could do with the company while he's with Fudge."

"Good idea", Sally agreed enthusiastically. "Why don't we go see Luigi once we hear what's going on with Fudge?"

Everyone else agreed. There was only one exception: Lightning. He offered to stay with Guido and Fudge. Not a single one of them protested.

"What's goin' on with Fudge now?" Mater wondered. He looked to Guido. "Why ain't you in there with 'er?"

"The eye doctor's just taking a look at her", Lightning explained. "Fudge keeps saying she can't see properly and Dr. Wilson thinks she needs glasses."

"Well, dad-gum! If she gets some fancy new glasses, you think she's gonna look smarter?"

"You don't think Fudge looks smart, Mater?" Sally asked with a teasing smile.

"I never said that!" the tow truck protested. "I said smart _er_!"

"He did", Sheriff agreed with a chuckle.

* * *

"Guido Rossi?"

The forklift turned around at the sound of his name to find Dr. Sawyer there. He approached the doctor and asked, "My daughter... okay?"

"Well, after examining her eyes, I've determined that Brittney _does_ need glasses. Other than that, there doesn't appear to be any problems. Needing glasses is the worst of it."

Guido nodded. This news wasn't really a surprise to him. Dr. Wilson had warned him about the possibility of his daughter needing glasses and he'd heard her complain about how her vision was really blurry and it often made her feel dizzy. Now, he was just glad that his daughter was about to have at least _one_ problem resolved for her. " _Grazie_."

"Well, I'm about to try her with different glasses. Why don't you come in and see her?"

"Okay!" Guido followed Dr. Sawyer back into Fudge's room.

* * *

Luigi was released from hospital a week later, under strict rules to get some rest. Despite that, he was very eager to see his daughter. He knew she had missed him so much.

"(She looks so different now!)" Guido informed his best friend as the two of them approached their daughter's hospital room.

"Maybe", Luigi responded with a big smile, "but I think I can recognise my own daughter."

Even so, Luigi was _very_ surprised when he entered the room. Not only was his daughter wearing glasses, but she was no longer in a hospital gown. Earlier in the week, after Fudge had asked for her journal, the others in town, especially Guido and Lightning, began putting together some stuff for Fudge, including her own clothes. So, she was now wearing those instead.

"I think you'll be a lot more comfortable in those than a hospital gown", Lightning had informed the girl when he promised to bring her some of her own clothes.

"Yeah", she had agreed. "Plus, these hospital gowns are really ugly!"

Lightning couldn't help chuckling. The hospital gown Fudge was wearing _was_ kind of ugly; it was white and covered in the same pattern of greenish-grey diamonds in groups of four to create a square. "I can't argue with you on _that_. I'll make sure you have nicer-looking clothes the next time I come and see you."

"Thanks."

Fudge scanned the list (and she was glad she was able to read it!). "My Radiator Springs snow globe will remind me of home", she repeated, glancing at that particular item on the list. "You know what else will remind me of home? My Radiator Springs T-shirt? You know the one?"

"The yellow one?" McQueen wanted to confirm.

"Yeah", Fudge answered.

"Yeah, well, I think you need a new one, Fudge-O", he informed the girl, giving her a kiss. He knew that that wouldn't be a problem, though; Lizzie sold them in her curio shop and that was obviously where Fudge got that one from along with many previous ones like it.

"Why?" she asked, puzzled.

"That's the shirt you were wearing on the day of the accident", the stock car had explained, taking her hand. "It was torn and covered in blood. Then the doctors used scissors to cut it off you when you got here."

"Oh." Fudge's shoulders had slumped. "What else was I wearing?" She wanted to know what other clothes she didn't have anymore.

Lightning told her.

"Your jacket, helmet and one of your shoes are probably still out there on the track", Lightning informed her. "We just left them there when we got you on the stretcher."

"Oh", she repeated quietly.

"Well, I'll go see Lizzie about getting you a new shirt tonight", he had promised her.

"Okay..." The twelve-year-old thought for a second before a slow smile spread across her face. "Maybe I could get a blue one this time." Blue was Fudge's favourite colour.

Lightning grinned at her, making a note of it. "You got it!"

* * *

Seeing Fudge in light blue-framed glasses and dressed in her brand new sky blue Radiator Springs T-shirt and underwear (which was what she had insisted on wearing) was a big surprise for Luigi. Even though she still had a long way to go in her recovery and could still barely move at that moment, she looked so much better now that she was dressed differently.

"Fudgie!" he exclaimed.

The girl's eyes lit up behind her glasses. "Yoo-ee-dee!" she called out her baby name for her father. He looked a lot better than the last time _Fudge_ saw _him_ too.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little better", she responded, "but I'm still in pain and tired and sick."

"How are the glasses?" Luigi wanted to know.

"They're okay", Fudge assured him. "I mean, I still feel dizzy because of the medication, but at least my vision's not blurry _all_ the time."

Luigi smiled. "That is good. They look nice on you, angel."

" _Grazie_... Do you like the blue? I chose the colour myself!"

"Yes. It is a very beautiful colour. Not as beautiful as _you_ , but very beautiful."

"How... how are _you_ feeling, Luigi?"

"A little tired", he admitted, "but other than that, I am okay."

Fudge looked up at him with wounded eyes. "I've missed you."

"Oh, Fudgie! I have missed you too!" He kissed her gently. "But I am here now, okay? I am not going to leave you now, okay?"

And Fudge could tell that he meant it. 

* * *

She was proven right two hours later when the entire family came in to see Fudge.

"Hi!" Fudge called out cheerfully.

"Hi, Fudge!" they all replied with big smiles on their faces.

"How does it feel to have Luigi back?"

"Yeah! Great! Really great!" the human girl proclaimed. "I've really missed him!"

Everyone smiled. They had all been to see Luigi, but Fudge hadn't and they all knew that this was extremely hard on her. Especially since she actually _saw_ Luigi have his engine attack.

Lightning was the last one to come into the room. "Hey, Fudge-O!" the stock car greeted her warmly.

She gave Lightning a toothless grin, happy to see him. "Hey, Lightning!" She cast a small glance at Luigi to see if he was giving any signs that he was going to move. It was normally around about this time that, if he hadn't done so already, Luigi would be announcing that he needed a cup of coffee. Then he would be gone.

However, it looked like he wasn't going to do that this time. The Fiat had given Lightning a very cold look, but other than that, he was fine. Fudge knew that he wasn't going anywhere. The cold look he sent Lightning's way told Fudge that things weren't _quite_ all right _just_ yet, but the fact that he was staying told her that things _were_ going to get better for all of them.

 **I don't remember all of the details, but I think I've heard somewhere about someone having a hit to the head and they needed glasses after it. I thought it would be an interesting thing to have happen to Fudge. I kind of want her to look a lot different after this, so... Yeah.**

 **Please review.**


	16. Luigi's Big News

**I wanted to wait a little while before posting, but I've been feeling kind of down today, so I thought reading this more positive chapter might cheer me up a little.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

 **Chapter 16- Luigi's Big News**

"I can't!" Fudge cried with tears in her eyes. "I just can't!"

"Fudgie, it is okay!" Luigi assured her, squeezing her hand. "You don't have to _do_ anything. You will be asleep, remember?"

"I _know_!" she insisted. "But I'm still scared!"

"I know", Luigi whispered soothingly, "I know. But everything is going to be fine."

It was the week after Luigi was released from the hospital and Fudge had surgery coming up in a couple of days. This one was going to be on both of her knees. She was extremely nervous for it. After all, during the World Grand Prix and on the day of her accident, she'd been taken in for immediate surgery. Any other time she'd had surgery while in the hospital, she'd still been too out of it to really know what was going on. This was the first time she'd known about it in advance.

"Luigi and Guido can't stay with you during the surgery", Luigi explained, "but the doctors said we could stay with you until you fall asleep, okay? And we will try to be there when you wake up, but if we are not, then just remember that we will be there with you as soon as we can, okay?"

Fudge still looked nervous as she gave a quiet, "Okay."

Luigi kissed her gently. "Good girl."

* * *

Even so, nothing could calm Fudge's nerves. In fact, she started bawling when a nurse came to start prepping her for the operation.

"Nonononononono!" she wept.

"It is okay!" Luigi whispered soothingly. "It is okay!"

"I don't wanna go!" she wailed as she was being transported down the hall.

"I know, I know", Luigi tried to comfort her. "I know you are scared. That is normal, but everything is going to be just fine." He kissed the top of her head. "Everything is going to be just fine."

"(We will be there with you as much as we can)", Guido added.

"I know..."

Dr. Moss, the head surgeon, was waiting for them down in the operating theatre.

"Now, Fudge", he began, "I know you're nervous, but everything is going to be just fine. This is a routine operation, all right? There is nothing to worry about."

"I'm scared!" she whimpered.

"I know", Dr. Moss replied, "and that's totally normal. I just need you to take a couple of deep breaths and try to relax for me."

Fudge tried to obey, but her breaths were still shaky.

"Good girl. Now, there's one more thing I need you to do for me."

"What?"

"Count down from ten for me."

"Ten... Nine... Eight... Seven... Six..." Fudge obeyed, completely unaware of the needle going into her arm and she drifted off without any trouble.

* * *

"Fudge!" a voice whispered in her ear what felt like seconds later. "Hey, Fudge-O!"

The human girl's eyes fluttered open to find Lightning and Sally parked by her bedside.

"Hey..." she mumbled drowsily, but she sounded glad to see them because she was.

"How you feeling?" Sally wanted to know.

"Dizzy. And sick... Where are Luigi and Guido?"

"They're just talking to Dr. Moss, sweetie", Sally explained. "They should be back in a sec."

"Okay", she mumbled quietly. She sure hoped Luigi wasn't going to leave her again.

* * *

Thank Chrysler he wasn't. He came in with Guido about three minutes later.

"Fudgie!" the two of them exclaimed in unison. They rushed forward to her bedside and kissed her noisily and repeatedly.

"How are you feeling?" Luigi questioned.

"Dizzy and sick", she repeated.

"Oh. Well, I am sure you will feel better soon", Luigi whispered, giving her yet another kiss.

Fudge gave him a look that was a little bit of annoyance mixed in with a look that showed him that she was in pain and she didn't feel very well. "I haven't been feeling better since I've been here."

"You will soon", Luigi promised.

Fudge didn't look convinced.

A few minutes later, the entire RS gang, Finn, Holley, RJ and Sammy were gathered in Fudge's hospital room.

"How you feeling?" they all wanted to know.

"Still not good", she mumbled.

"You'll feel better soon, honey", Flo assured her.

"People keep saying that", Fudge responded sceptically.

"Fudgie!" they all exclaimed sympathetically.

"I wanna go home!" the twelve-year-old groaned.

"We know you do!" Luigi gave her a big kiss. "We all want you to come home too."

"I miss _everything_ about Radiator Springs!" she moaned. "I miss my own bed, I miss Casa Della Tires, I miss Flo's, I miss the Wheel Well..." She rattled on and on about every single thing she missed about Radiator Springs, which turned out to be every single thing _in_ Radiator Springs. "I even miss, 'Will you turn that disrespectful junk off?!'" she stage-yelled in her best Sarge impersonation. "'Respect the classics, man! It's Hendrix!'" she responded to herself in her best _Fillmore_ impersonation.

They all laughed hysterically. Nobody laughed harder than Sarge and Fillmore themselves.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day that _anyone_ would _ever_ say that!" Ramone hooted.

"Me neither!" Fudge giggled.

"Being in the hospital must be driving you crazy, huh, Fudge-O?" Lightning ruffled her hair playfully with a weak smile and a pang of guilt.

"Yeah..." Fudge responded, her smile drooping a little bit. Lightning had been joking, but there _was_ some truth behind his words. A tear slipped down her cheek. Then another. Then another. And that was all it took for her to start crying again. "I wanna go home!"

"Don't cry, Fudge!" Luigi squeezed her hand and gave her a big kiss.

"But I wanna go home!"

"I am sure you will get to come home soon!" Luigi attempted to comfort her.

Again, Fudge didn't look convinced.

* * *

Not long after Fudge fell asleep, there was a knock at the door. Everyone looked around the room, puzzled. All of them- the RS gang and the spies- were in the room and the doctors and nurses would knock before opening the door ajar and coming straight in.

"Come in...?" several of them responded to the knock.

The door opened a crack and they could see Jeff Gorvette peering in. "McQueen?"

"I'll be right back", Lightning informed the sleeping Fudge, giving her a kiss before rolling out of the room. "Hey, Jeff!" He closed the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just wondering how Fudge was", he responded.

"She's fine", McQueen answered. "She's just had surgery a couple of hours ago, so she's pretty tired, but she seems to be getting better."

"And how are _you_?"

"Better", he replied with a nod and a slightly stronger tone. "Seeing Fudge get better is... is making _me_ feel better."

There was a pause. "So... I'm heading to the Republic of New Rearendia tomorrow."

"Right... For..." Lightning hadn't known that the other racers were meeting up. He hadn't even been involved in anything Piston Cup-related since his abrupt exodus from the first race of the season, let alone anything related to his buddies from the World Grand Prix.

Jeff nodded. "Yeah."

Lightning sighed. "I... I hope you didn't come all this way to try and convince me to come. Because..." He trailed off, confident that Jeff got it and he didn't need to say any more.

"No, no!" Jeff assured him hurriedly. "I get it! I just thought I'd see how you were going before I left." He paused before he added, "The races won't be the same without you, but I understand why you won't be there."

McQueen nodded gratefully. "Thanks, Jeff."

Jeff left ten minutes later and Lightning went back to see Fudge. She was still asleep and Lightning found himself thinking about the races in which he was no longer participating. This- knowing that his fellow WGP competitors were racing without him- was the first time he felt like he was really missing being in the races. However, he didn't let himself dwell on it for very long. He knew if he thought about it too much, he would have yet another flashback to that awful night. Then, of course, there was the fact that Fudge was more important than any race.

Lightning's mind returned to how upset Fudge had gotten earlier about being in the hospital. She'd been there for a few months now and was going crazy. He sure hoped she could come home soon.

* * *

"All right, Fudge!" Lightning whispered gently the next afternoon. "Time to wake up now!"

Fudge let out a low groan. She hated being woken up.

Lightning laughed, not at all surprised by her behaviour. "I know! I'm sorry!"

"Hi..." Fudge mumbled.

"Hey! How you feeling?"

"I'm okay..." she answered and Lightning knew Fudge well enough to know what she meant. She _wasn't_ feeling okay; she just meant there was no difference. "Hey... Where are Luigi and Guido?"

"Guido just went to the bathroom. He should be back in a sec", Lightning explained. He made a face as he added, "Luigi's getting a cup of coffee."

Fudge made a face too. "Why does Luigi always have to get coffee?"

"I don't know, sweetie", her brother responded. He'd been wondering the same thing. "Well, would it make you feel better if I told you there are some people here to see you?"

That got the twelve-year-old's interest. So far, the only guests she'd had in the hospital were her Radiator Springs family, Finn, Holley, Sammy and RJ. "Really? Who?"

The stock car grinned. "Why don't you see for yourself?"

"(My angel!)" Guido was the first one in the room. As usual, he was genuinely happy to see his daughter and he gave her a kiss. "(How are you feeling?)"

She shrugged, not sure how to answer that.

"(I am sure you will feel better when you see who is here!)"

"Fudge!" Rusty and Dusty exclaimed in unison, coming into the room.

"How you feeling?" The King questioned as he entered with Cal Weathers, Bobby Swift and Brick Yardley.

"I'm okay..." she responded again, trying to be polite.

"We've been so worried about you", Cal added. "We've heard all about your accident."

"It's good to see you're looking a lot better", Bobby chimed in. "We saw photos of how you looked after the accident."

"It was horrible", Brick added.

Fudge couldn't help smiling, even if she didn't _feel_ better. "Thanks... So, what's been going on with the new racing season? I've been trying, but I haven't been able to follow it."

It was hard. Every time she tried to watch a race, she would get interrupted by nurses poking and prodding her or giving her a meal. If the nurses didn't distract her, then she would end up falling asleep. If she didn't end up falling asleep, Lightning would find it too hard to watch after her accident and turn the TV off.

"Why did you turn that off?" Fudge wondered, disappointed, every time he did that.

"Do you really wanna watch racing when you're recovering from this accident?" Lightning had demanded. He didn't tell his sister that _he_ was the one having a hard time watching racing when she was recovering from the accident. He wanted to protect her.

" _Yes_!" she had insisted. "I still like racing!"

"Just wait a little while longer, all right, Fudge-O?"

Fudge was confused, but nodded. "All right", she agreed reluctantly.

* * *

"It's going well", Cal informed the human. "I won the last race."

"Yeah, but it was a photo finish!" Bobby piped up. "I was right behind you!"

"With Lightning not racing right now, the biggest rivalry's between the three of us!" Brick clarified.

As they talked about what was happening in the new season of Piston Cup racing, Fudge began to feel bad. She wanted to be there so badly! She missed being in the pits and watching all of the excitement from there. She missed watching the cars blaze around the track at two hundred miles an hour. She missed the whirring of equipment as racers came into the pits to have their tyres changed and their tanks filled. She missed the screaming of fans and flashing of cameras. She wanted to be at a race at that very moment. The other reason she felt bad was because she was the reason Team McQueen weren't at one. Lightning would still be competing if it wasn't for her. Little did she know what Lightning was going through.

* * *

The twelve-year-old girl began to feel even worse later that evening when it was just her, Lightning and Guido in the room because Luigi was getting _another_ cup of coffee.

Lightning got out his phone and announced, "You know, there are some more people who wanna see you, Fudge-O."

"Now?" Fudge asked. "But aren't visiting hours nearly over?"

Her brother chuckled. "I don't think that matters now." He pressed a button on his phone and in a second, a series of bright colours lit up the screen. "Hey, guys!"

" _Ah! McQueen!_ " came a familiar Italian accent.

" _McQueen!_ " several voices exclaimed. " _How you doing?!_ "

" _Francesco was-a just thinking of you!_ " Francesco went on. " _He was-a thinking the race this_ _afternoon will-a be less-a fun without McQueen to beat!_ "

Lightning laughed, trying to hide his hurt. He didn't want anybody to see the pain that racing- once the thing loved so much- was bringing him lately. Especially not Fudge. "You're just gonna have to beat everyone else for me, Francesco!"

" _We all wish you could be here, man_ ", Lewis Hamilton informed Lightning, " _but we all_ _understand why you're not._ "

"Oui", Raoul Caroule agreed. " _How is your cheerleader?_ "

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Lightning aimed the camera towards said cheerleader.

Fudge was embarrassed and caught off guard as she saw all of Lightning's international racing buddies. She didn't really know them all that well. "Hi, guys!"

All of them greeted her in their native languages, all glad to see her. None of them knew her all that well either, but had all been genuinely concerned about her. Plus, they'd all seen her on a racetrack. They knew she was very talented.

" _How are you feeling?_ " Miguel Camino asked her.

"Tired!" she yawned, making everyone laugh. "The medication I'm on makes me tired all the time. I'm in pain and feel sick too, so I just wanna sleep all the time."

"And she will if we don't wake her up!" Lightning chimed in. "It's hard work keeping her awake!"

"So, where are you guys now?" Fudge wanted to know.

" _We are in Japan!_ " Shu Todoroki replied. " _We have just been to the Republic of New_ _Rearendia and China with Rip and Long Ge showing us around. Next, we're going to Brazil_ _and Mexico with Carla and Memo hosting us._ "

"Sounds fun!" Fudge commented sincerely. She really wished she was there! Not only did the tween miss the racing, but she missed travelling too! She loved travelling across the country and heading overseas for races! "How's the racing going?"

The more they talked about it, the more jealous Fudge got. She wanted to get out of this bed and head to a race! She wanted to be _in_ a race, even though she knew she couldn't do that. Even she knew it was much too early to try that.

"How long do you think I'll be here for?" Fudge quizzed Lightning when he put his phone away. He'd said goodbye to his friends, sensing that his baby sister was tired and knowing that she'd be asleep soon. Guido had left again to get a cup of coffee himself.

"I'm not sure yet, sweetie", he answered. "It could still be a while."

"I miss racing!" she informed him. "I wanna get better, so you can get back to racing. And _I_ can get back to racing."

Lightning hesitated for moment. He never ever wanted her to race again, but he didn't have the heart to tell her that just yet.

"Well, that may not be for some time, Fudge-O", he informed his sister, stroking her hair. "Even when we're both better, it's not just gonna happen overnight."

"Why you?" the human wondered, puzzled.

Lightning paused again. He looked very uncomfortable.

"Never mind, sweetie." He kissed her and decided to change the subject. "Yeah, well, I guess I better get going. Luigi and Guido should be back in a sec. Then they'll have to leave in about half an hour." Lightning gave Fudge another kiss. "Love you, Fudge-O!"

"Love you too!"

He drove out of the door and Fudge was all alone.

* * *

Luckily for Fudge, Lightning was right. Luigi and Guido were back in a couple of seconds.

"How are you, angel?" Luigi wanted to know, kissing his daughter.

"I don't know", she replied, unable to lie to her fathers.

"I hear you have had many of McQueen's friends wanting to see you", Luigi remarked.

She smiled. "Yeah..."

"Was that fun?"

"Yeah!" she repeated.

Guido glowered at the Fiat. "(Well, you would _know_ if you were here!)" he snapped, having had more than enough of Luigi's lack of appearances.

Luigi was equally annoyed. "(Excuse me?)"

"(You heard me!)" Guido shot back. "(You have been out of the room more than you have been in it! How much coffee do you _need_?!)"

"(As much coffee as I am having!)" Luigi shot back coldly.

"Hey, guys! Please don't fight!" Fudge begged in English. She always hated it when her fathers fought and it was the last thing she needed at this point.

"(I think you have forgotten what is important here!)" Guido shouted at Luigi. "( _I_ am here with my- _our_ daughter as much as I can be! _You_ are more worried about your fight with McQueen and keeping the local Starbucks in business!)" Although the hospital served coffee, Luigi would often go to the Starbucks two streets away, so he could avoid Lightning just that little bit longer.

Luigi looked highly insulted. "(That is not fair!)"

"(It is true!)"

Privately, Fudge agreed with Guido. Her only external reaction was to start crying.

The two Italians finally shifted their attention back to their daughter. They had almost completely forgotten she was there. Instantly, both of them felt guilty.

"Oh, Fudgie!" Luigi exclaimed, giving her kisses. "It is okay!"

"I hate it when you fight!" the twelve-year-old wailed.

"I know, I know!" Luigi gave her another kiss. "We are sorry! It is okay!"

"(We are so sorry!)" Guido added. He, too, kissed her. Though, with a glare at Luigi, he added, "(We will talk more at home!)"

"(Oh, we will!)" Luigi responded just as angrily.

Fudge couldn't believe it. It seemed as though some people, especially Luigi, cared more about petty feuds than being there with her when she needed them. It wasn't fair!

* * *

Luigi and Guido came in first thing in the morning as usual.

"Fudgie?" Luigi began.

Fudge didn't answer.

Luigi sighed. "We know you are upset about last night. We are so sorry. We do fight sometimes, but Guido and I still care about each other. And _you_ , of course." He kissed her.

"(That is right!)" Guido stroked his daughter's hand and gave her a kiss of his own. "(We love you so much, Fudgie!)"

"I know. I love you both too!"

"It is okay!" Luigi assured. "Luigi and Guido just disagree on some things right now, but we will try not to fight, okay? We know it is not fair to you."

"Thanks", Fudge muttered, not knowing what else to say.

* * *

Several weeks went by. Luigi and Guido still fought on occasion and Luigi was still ignoring Lightning. Fudge was still in pain from all of her injuries and feeling sick from the medication. The poor girl was feeling really down as more and more time went on.

"Grey and white", she muttered, staring at the wall. "All I can see is grey and white!"

"Then why don't you look at your animals and your balloons?" Luigi suggested.

"I hate it here!" was the only response he got.

"I know, I know!" Luigi gave his daughter a kiss. "But this is the best place for you to be."

"I know, but I wanna go home!" Fudge started to cry.

"Oh, Fudge, don't cry!" Luigi exclaimed, stroking her hand. It broke his heart to see his baby girl so upset.

"I can't help it!" she cried. "I miss Radiator Springs! I want to sleep in my own bed, I want to feel better!"

It was just like this for several weeks and she just grew more and more depressed.

* * *

Well, another month went by and things seemed to be really looking up. Otis, Rusty, Dusty, Cal, Bobby, Brick, The King and Tex all came to visit Fudge in hospital again several times. Plus, Lightning's international racing buddies continued to video chat with her from time to time. That all made her very happy; she'd missed them and enjoyed their visits immensely. She also enjoyed when, after she was deemed well enough, she got to go in her wheelchair to the big open play area in the children's ward to play games and just spend time with other children. That only happened once every week or two. That's why, as fun as it was hanging out with the other kids, the twelve-year-old didn't create any long lasting friendships. Hardly anybody was in hospital for as long as she was, so every time she went, there was a new group of kids. Still, she'd take that over lying in her hospital bed any day.

As for Luigi, he was still pretty tired from time to time, despite the fact that he followed doctor's instructions to get some rest. Aside from that, though, it was almost as if his engine attack never happened.

Not only that, but Fudge seemed to be healing well from the accident. Occasionally, she'd have surgery and while she was always scared, the procedures always ran smoothly. Her broken bones were healing slowly, but steadily, her punctured lung was a lot better too, which meant she could breathe entirely on her own and the glasses made a lot of difference. In fact, she was getting so much better that two wonderful things happened. The first was that her medication dosage started to come down gradually (even though she was still having some). The second was that on one Monday night in the middle of May, Luigi and Guido came home from the hospital after everyone else in a _very_ good mood.

"Wine, anyone?" Luigi offered as Guido held up a bottle of expensive-looking Italian wine, which the two of them had picked up on their way home from the hospital.

Everyone smiled. "All right. What's going on?"

"Something happened, didn't it?!" Lightning guessed.

Luigi was far too over the moon to pay attention to _who_ had just spoken. He just parked there with the biggest grin on his face. "Maybe..."

"Come on!" the crowd exclaimed. "Tell us!"

Luigi laughed. "Okay. Well", he began with a big smile, "Dr. Wilson came in to examine Fudge again today." He paused dramatically. "And she was _very_ happy with the progress Fudge has made with her recovery. We don't think Fudge has noticed because she is still in pain, but it is true. It is so amazing that now, she is making a lot of progress."

Immediately, all of the townsfolk launched into the usual, "That's _great_!"

Luigi beamed. "Yes. And Dr. Wilson was so happy with the amount of progress that Fudge has been making that... she said that she could come home on Friday!"

" _Really_?!" came the collective gasps all around Flo's. Nobody- not a _single one_ of them- had seen this coming so soon.

Luigi nodded, looking completely serious. "Really."

And there was much rejoicing. Immediately, everyone launched into cheers, loud honks of horns and several of them, such as Red, Sheriff, Sally and Lightning cried tears of joy. Fudge had been in the hospital for nearly four months now. There were tons of times when they feared that she wasn't going to come home at all. Now, knowing that she was coming home seemed almost too good to be true.

"She is still not completely better, though", Luigi went on, wiping his own happy tears away as he started pouring everyone glasses of wine with the exception of himself since he was still recovering from his engine attack and guess who else (even RJ got some, even though he was only eighteen). "She will still need lots of bedrest, medication and she will still have to go back into hospital for surgeries and therapy. But the worst of it is over."

This prompted even more cheers and honks.

"I'd like to propose a toast", Sarge spoke up, pushing forward his glass of wine. "To Fudge! Even though she's not here right now and I'll tell her this the day she comes home, I think I speak for everyone here when I say that I couldn't be happier that she's coming home and I wish her a speedy recovery!"

"To Fudge!" everyone shouted.

It was at that moment that Guido noticed that Lightning didn't have any wine. So, he silently offered him a glass. After he'd checked that Luigi wasn't looking, he nodded and took the glass from the forklift.

" _Grazie_ ", McQueen whispered, sipping the wine. He knew he needed every last drop of it.

When everyone quietened down, Luigi kept talking.

"The thing is", he explained to his friends, "if Fudge is here and she is still unwell and unable to move much, she will require a _lot_ of care. Guido and I are going to be doing these kinds of things for her, but it is going to be a _very_ big job and we will need lots of help."

"Well, we'll all be happy to help", Sally assured them both and everyone else chimed in with their agreement. They all knew that not only was it a big job, but Luigi was still supposed to be taking it easy after his engine attack. They couldn't leave it all up to Guido on his own; the last thing they needed was the forklift getting sick on them too.

After some discussion, it was decided that Flo would make breakfast, lunch and dinner for Fudge every day and feed her and everyone else would come over at various points during the day to provide Fudge with company and entertainment as well as assistance with anything she needed.

"We could have, like, a timetable!" Sally suggested, to which the others agreed.

Luigi and Guido were very happy with all of those offers, thinking that this would be one less thing to worry about, but Luigi wasn't happy with _one_ offer that was made.

"You know, I'm not racing right now", Lightning reminded the two Italians. "I can stay with Fudge as much as you want. I'll even stay with her all day every day if you need me to."

Guido smiled and nodded gratefully. " _Grazie_ ", he responded.

"No!" Luigi cried over the top of Guido as he finished speaking. "No thank you!" He gave the stock car an ice cold glare. "Give me one good reason why Guido and I should trust you with our daughter!"

"( _I_ trust him with our daughter!)" Guido spoke up angrily.

Luigi kept talking, ignoring his best friend. "The last time we trusted you with our daughter, we got ourselves into this mess in the first place!"

"Luigi, _please_ stop!" Sally begged.

"Hey! Look!" Lightning told Luigi defensively. "Nothing is going to happen if Fudge stays in bed all day! It's not like we're gonna be racing again. What could I _possibly_ do to her?"

"I don't know", Luigi admitted coldly, "but I am sure you will think of something."

"Luigi!" the race car exclaimed in disbelief. "Fudge is my _sister_! All I want is to _help_ her!"

There was a long pause as everyone stared at Luigi. Luigi stared off into space.

"Fine!" he huffed after what felt like an eternity, sounding like agreeing to this was _the_ last thing he wanted to do. " _But_ if _anything_ happens to Fudge-"

"It won't!" Sally assured him hurriedly.

Luigi didn't look so sure.

"I get it, I get it", Lightning informed Luigi.

* * *

"So, Fudge", Lightning began the next day as he packed up some of the stuff in her room for her departure, "Luigi tells me you're coming home on Friday."

"Yeah! I can't wait! I cried when Dr. Wilson said I could come home. I was so happy!"

"Did you?" He couldn't help smiling. "Well, I did too, to be honest. We're all glad to know you're coming home."

She returned his smile. "Thanks, Lightning." It was even getting less painful to smile now and she seemed to be doing it a bit more often lately, now that she was going home soon. Packing up her stuff to go home and listening to an upbeat song like "The Whip" by Locksley was putting her in a pretty good mood.

"So, sweetie..." The stock car scanned all of the cards, flowers, balloons and stuffed animals that Fudge had been gifted by countless people over her hospital stay, which filled the room. "What do you wanna do with all of this?"

"Keep it", she answered as if the answer was obvious.

Lightning eyed the mountain of presents again. " _All_ of it?"

"Yeah", Fudge confirmed seriously. "People gave them to me."

"That's true... Well, where are you gonna put it all? I'm not sure there's gonna be enough space in your room."

"We'll _find_ places!"

Lightning chuckled. He could understand why Fudge wanted to keep it all. "All right. If you insist. I mean, they _are_ yours."

"Yeah!" She gave a small smile.

"Fudgie!" Luigi called, entering the room. He stopped short when he noticed that Lightning was still in the room.

"Hi, Luigi!" Fudge greeted her father happily.

He gave her a small smile. " _Ciao_!"

"We started packing!" she informed Luigi.

"I can see that."

"Fudge was just saying we're gonna need to find space for all of her cards and stuffed animals and everything", Lightning chimed in as he stuffed another one of Fudge's bags with one last stuffed bear, wearing a red 95 T-shirt, evidently from a fan named Cruz Ramirez, according to the tag.

Luigi didn't answer.

Fudge decided to speak up. "Yeah, I wanted to keep all of the stuff I got from people... That's okay, right?"

"Of course!" Luigi assured her. "They are yours."

"Yay!" the human girl cheered. Then she stopped and yawned.

"Do you want to take a nap?" the stock car asked the girl, knowing what the answer would be. Fudge spent at _least_ seventy-five per cent of her time asleep nowadays. In fact, for most of her hospital stay, she'd only wake up for food, water and medication and then go back to sleep right away.

"Yeah..." she yawned loudly.

"All right.." He made sure the covers were over her. "You comfy?"

"Yeah", she repeated with another yawn.

"And I promise I'll be right here when you wake up, all right?"

Fudge smiled again. "That sounds good..."

So, pretty soon, Fudge was fast asleep. Lightning smiled at her fondly and kissed the top of her head as he watched her sleep. Right now, the only thing that sounded good to him was that his baby sister was finally going to be back where she belonged.

 **I feel like, realistically, Fudge wouldn't be able to come home at that point, but I wanted to get a little bit more of the story in Radiator Springs, so I thought I could just fudge that part. Get it? Get it? _Fudge_ it? I'll stop.**

 **I also got asked to include the WGP racers. I don't think they'd play a significant role in this story, but here's a little something. They come up a bit more in future chapters.**

 **Please review.**


	17. Welcome Home, Fudge!

**Here it is! It's time for a new chapter of _Ride_! Well, I guess you already knew that.** **And it's a very important chapter because... Well, I guess you already know _that_ too. Oh, I'll just shut up and let you read the chapter.**

 **Chapter 17- Welcome Home, Fudge!**

Friday was the day she'd been looking forward to feverishly ever since she woke up from her coma. She was going _home_! She was beginning to think that this day would never come, but now, it was only one sleep away!

"Okay..." Luigi looked around at the several bags on the floor, stored under the bed on Thursday night. It was just him and Fudge in the room; the others had all left for the night and Luigi was supposed to be leaving in a couple of minutes himself. "I see that you have just about everything packed."

"Yeah", Fudge confirmed, unable to wipe the smile off her face. "My clothes for tomorrow are on the chair. Everything else is packed."

Luigi smiled. "Good."

"Oh, I'm just so excited to be coming home!" the girl gushed.

"Me too", Luigi agreed, taking her hand and giving her a big smile of his own. "Now, Fudge, I don't want to upset you because I know you are so happy to be coming home and I am too, but I feel like there is something we need to talk about before you come home."

"Okay..." Immediately, Fudge was suspicious.

"Okay", Luigi began. "Just because you are coming home, this does not mean you are magically better, okay?" Just looking at her, he could tell that that wasn't true. It was obvious that she was still in a fair amount of pain. Her knees were kind of scary-looking. They were covered in scars, but nowhere near as nasty as the scar on her back, and were an unusual shape from dozens of surgeries. On top of that, her face was pale, she was abnormally thin and she still looked pretty sick from the medication. "You still need plenty of rest and you can't walk just yet."

"I know!" Fudge groaned. "The doctors and nurses won't stop reminding me! Besides, I still don't feel like I can really move! I don't think I'm gonna try walking anytime soon!" She didn't really mind all of that. She didn't want to move anyway and she would much rather rest at home than in the hospital.

"That is good!" Luigi chuckled. "Because Guido and I don't want you getting hurt trying!" He kissed the top of his daughter's head.

"Trust me, I won't."

"I know. I am glad."

"Anything else?" Fudge wanted to know.

"Just going on from that", Luigi continued, "you are still going to have to go back to the hospital. You are going to have to have surgeries and soon, you will start therapy."

"I know", Fudge repeated quietly. She had been told about the therapy and wasn't looking forward to it. Sure, she couldn't wait to start walking (if it ever got to that; they were going to start slow) and feeling like herself again and all that. It was just that the therapy sounded like a lot of work and she was sure that it was going to be painful.

Luigi nodded. "Okay..." He glanced at the clock. "It is time for me to go, but I will be back first thing in the morning with Guido and Mack, okay?" Earlier in the week, Mack had agreed to give Fudge a ride home from the hospital in his trailer since everyone in town had agreed that it was the easiest and safest way to get her home. Besides, there was a bed in the trailer, so Fudge could nap quite comfortably on the way home.

"Can't wait."

"Will you be okay tonight?"

"I have been every other night", Fudge reminded him. "I'll be okay for one more night."

Luigi nodded. "Of course. Well, Luigi has to go now." He kissed her again. "I love you and I will see you in the morning to take you home."

"Home..." At that moment, it sounded like the best word in the world to Fudge.

* * *

The human girl drifted off not long after Luigi left with a huge smile on her face. By that time tomorrow, she'd be sleeping in her own bed. Plus, not only would she get to spend as much time as she wanted with her family, but she got to spend the whole night with Doc. During her hospital stay, pretty much every time she fell asleep, there he was. She could see his smile, hear him chuckling. He would look at her the same way he did whenever she came over to the clinic in tears with a new injury. It was a look where he appeared to be annoyed, amused and sympathetic all at once by hiding a small smile.

" _What have you_ done _, kiddo?" Fudge could still hear his voice as clear as anything. Like his_ _face looked, his voice sounded a combination of annoyed, amused and sympathetic._

" _I... got hurt while I was out on the track with Lightning", she informed him quietly. "I don't_ _remember what happened. I got told that I fell off his roof."_

 _Doc shook his hood with a quiet chuckle. "I worry about you sometimes, Fudge."_

" _I'm getting better, though!" she insisted. "I'm going home in the morning!"_

" _Yeah, I know." Doc nodded. "I'm very happy to hear that." He gave her hair a playful ruffle._ " _You're way too young to be joinin' me here."_

" _I know", Fudge agreed with a sad smile. "I miss you, though. We all do."_

" _I miss you all too. Well, I see you all every day, but I can't be with you. Just know I'm there_ _with you every day."_

" _I_ do _know that", Fudge assured him. "_ We _see_ you _every day too."_

 _Doc smiled, knowing what Fudge meant. Then he looked around. "Mornin's comin'", he_ _reported. "I should go."_

" _I'll see you soon, though, right?" Fudge asked._

" _Of course. You nap so much, I'll probably see you in a couple of hours!" Doc chuckled. "I_ _love_ _you."_

" _I love you too."_

" _I love you so much, Fudge", Doc repeated, suddenly slipping into an Italian accent._ _"Fudge..._ _Fudge... Fudge..."_

* * *

"Fudge..."

The girl opened her eyes slowly to find Luigi and Guido parked by her bedside, shaking her gently and whispering her name soothingly over and over again.

A slow smile spread across Fudge's face at the sight of them. "Hey..."

"It is time to go home now, angel", Luigi announced.

"Yes!" Fudge cheered.

"Okay. We need to be as quick as we can because Mack is outside waiting for us. Let's get you in the bathroom and then we will get you dressed, okay?"

"Okay", Fudge agreed.

* * *

"No! Not okay!" the twelve-year-old protested.

"Fudgie, it is just until we get home", Luigi pointed out.

"No! I don't want to!"

After getting her cleaned up and letting her do her business in the bathroom, Luigi and Guido took her back to her room to get her dressed. She was wearing her new Radiator Springs T-shirt and underwear, but she was refusing to put on the denim shorts Luigi had with him.

"You can't just wear your underwear out in public", Luigi reasoned. "You can take them off as soon as we get home, okay?"

"As soon as I get in the trailer?" Fudge requested.

Luigi sighed. "Will you put them on again when we get _out_ of the trailer until we get home?"

"Fine", Fudge agreed reluctantly. She wasn't sure why he wanted her to do that, though. None of the others would mind if she just wore a T-shirt and underwear; that was all she wore while she was in the hospital. Plus, she was going straight home when they got back to town. What did it matter what she wore outside for five seconds?

* * *

As a nurse wheeled Fudge down the hall in a wheelchair she was taking home with her, many doctors, nurses, patients and their families called out cheerful farewells to the girl. Although she'd spent most of the time in her private room, Fudge had gotten to know several other patients, who all seemed sad to see her go. Fudge would miss them, but she wasn't sorry to be leaving, not even a little bit.

"Ah! Fresh air!" Fudge exclaimed with a huge sigh of relief as soon as she was out the door. Warm sunlight and a gentle breeze washed over; it felt amazing, especially after being cooped up indoors for four months.

Luigi, Guido and the nurse all laughed.

"Hey!" a voice called out happily. "Fudge! How you doin'?!"

Fudge couldn't help smiling. "Hi, Mack!" She hadn't seen the big truck in ages.

"Wow! I almost didn't recognise you in those glasses!" he commented. Fudge knew that it was more than just the glasses; Mack was just too polite to mention how sick she still looked or how much weight she'd lost. "How you doin'?"

"Better", she replied, even though she wasn't sure it that was true. Well, _emotionally_ , it was true; coming home was already doing wonders for _that_. It was just that, even though, everyone told her she was getting much better, she didn't feel it all that much. Of course, she'd noticed that she wasn't as sick or in pain as she felt when she first remembered waking up from the coma, but not by much.

"Well, that's good. So, shall we hit the road?"

Fudge broke out into a huge toothless grin. "Sounds good to me!"

So, with the help of Luigi, Guido and the nurse, it was only a matter of minutes before Fudge was settled in on the bed in the trailer and all of her bags were loaded in after her. Then, after the nurse had called out a cheery goodbye and reminded Fudge to take care of herself, she was gone. The trailer door was shut and they were on their way! Fudge felt like she'd been let out of prison.

Still, the pure joy she felt wasn't enough to keep her awake. She drifted off after about ten minutes. The only problem was just as she was drifting off...

"(I still can't believe you are okay with McQueen taking care of our daughter!)" Luigi shouted at Guido.

"( _I_ still can't believe you are acting like this)", Guido shot back in a perfect deadpan.

"(Well, I seem to care more about Fudge than you-)"

"(Don't you say that!)" Guido interrupted, sounding angrier than either Fudge or Luigi had ever heard him sound. "( **DON'T YOU _EVER_ SAY THAT! **I don't even know _how_ you can say that when I was _with_ Fudge in the hospital-)"

"(I had an engine attack!)" Luigi argued defensively. "(You don't think I wanted to be with our daughter?!)"

"(The engine attack was not your fault, Luigi)", Guido admitted, "(but I am talking about being there with Fudge while _you_ were running around, getting coffee!)"

"(I can't believe you are still bringing that up!)"

"(Yes! Because I think it says a lot about you, Luigi!)"

"(What is _that_ supposed to mean?!)" Luigi sounded very disgusted.

"(I think you know!)" Guido snapped.

* * *

It went on and on like that until Fudge fell asleep and probably after that too. She slept the whole way back to town (and she _did_ end up seeing Doc again). It was pretty exciting when Luigi shook her and announced, "Fudgie! Look where we are!"

The girl smiled and her heart leapt as she peered out the window to find that the tall buildings of the city had been replaced by the familiar desert landscape where she had grown up over the last twelve years (well, almost thirteen). The Leaning Tower of Tyres and the sign advertising Flo's V8 Café came into view moments later. She was here! She was home! It wasn't a dream! After all this time, she had _finally_ come home!

Mack's horn blared out as he pulled up to Flo's.

"Close your eyes, Fudge!" Luigi instructed her. He had just put her shorts on.

"What for?" Fudge wanted to know, obeying.

"You will see!"

"Okay, but don't be surprised if I end up falling asleep."

Luigi laughed. "I won't!"

With her eyes still closed, Fudge felt herself being wheeled out of the trailer. The sunlight greeted her once more. It felt different to the one she'd felt in the city. For some reason she couldn't fully explain, the sunshine in Radiator Springs felt different to the sunshine anywhere else in the world.

"Okay, Fudge", Luigi's voice rang out in the darkness. "Open your eyes!"

With a big smile, Fudge opened her eyes. In front of Flo's were a flood of people. Of course, Lightning, Sally, Mater, Sarge, Fillmore, Flo, Ramone, Sheriff, Lizzie and Red were there. Behind _them_ were Finn, Holley, Sammy, RJ and even Siddeley was parked behind Flo's and off to the side. That was pretty much all she was expecting to see. However, there were Rusty, Dusty, Bobby Swift, Brick Yardley, the entire Weathers family, Tex, Otis, Jeff Gorvette and Fudge didn't know who else. There were lots of colourful balloons tied to the metal pillars of the café and an equally colourful banner strung across the front of the building above the crowd. WELCOME HOME, FUDGE, it read.

"Hi!" the twelve-year-old called out, over the moon to see each and every person there.

"Welcome home, Fudge!" everyone stage-whispered.

"Thanks!" she giggled.

"We couldn't let you come home with a little celebration, honey!" Flo informed the girl with a smile. "Just a quiet one 'cause you're still supposed to be restin'."

"Wow! Thank you so much! This is awesome!"

"Can I get you anything to drink, sweet pea?" Flo asked at one point.

"Just water, thanks", Fudge responded, thinking that she felt too sick to drink anything else.

So, Fudge received a cup of water and she noticed that everyone else had drinks and Sarge was pushing his forward.

"As I did when I first heard the news that she was coming home, I would like to propose a toast to Fudge. Just like I said then, I think I speak for everyone here when I say I couldn't be happier that she's home and I wish her a speedy recovery. To Fudge!"

"To Fudge!" everyone echoed, pushing forward their own drinks, making the human girl's face go red.

* * *

For the next ten minutes, Fudge went around, greeting every single person there individually. She didn't talk to most of them for very long; just long enough to thank them for coming, let them know she was glad to see them and respond to questions about how she was feeling.

When it got to Lightning's turn, he took her hand and started crying.

"Wow! I am so glad you're home!"

Fudge couldn't wipe the smile off her face. "Me too!"

"I am so sorry I got you in there in the first place!" he repeated.

"Don't be. I know it was an accident."

"Now, you take care of yourself, all right?"

"I will."

"Good. And I'll help with that."

Once she'd had a drink and greeted everyone there to see her, Fudge felt her eyes begin to water and she struggled to keep them open.

"Do you want to go home and get some rest now?" Luigi questioned.

She responded by yawning loudly, making the crowd laugh.

"I will take that as a yes!" Luigi chuckled, beginning to wheel her off home. Only Guido and Lightning followed. The others stayed behind; they could see Fudge later. For now, though, she needed to rest.

* * *

"Can I please take my shorts off now?" Fudge asked as soon as she was inside Casa Della Tires.

All three around her laughed and Luigi removed her denim shorts.

" _Grazie_."

"Now, you know why I wanted you to wear them", Luigi pointed out.

"Yeah..." She looked around her home with all of the Ferrari posters on the walls and tyre displays set up. "I've really missed this place!"

"It has not been the same without you, Fudgie!" Luigi declared, kissing the top of her head. "Now, shall we take you up to your room?"

"Yeah!" She couldn't _wait_ to sleep in her own bed!

Before long, Fudge was settled into her own bed in her own room.

"(We tried to keep your room just how you left it)", Guido explained as he pulled the covers over her, "(but that was hard to do when we brought things to the hospital for you.)"

"(That's okay)", Fudge assured him. "(Either way, I'm glad to be back.)"

"(And we are glad to have you back.)" The forklift gave her a kiss.

" _Grazie_."

"Okay. So, Luigi and Guido will be here with you as much as we can", Luigi informed his daughter. "Though, we will still be working in the store too. We are very sorry, but we _do_ have to work." He really _did_ sound sorry, which Fudge was glad to note after all the times he hadn't been there. "So, you have the bell." He held up a small silver bell, which had been on the bedside table. The bell was something that they'd had for years. When Fudge was sick and had to stay in bed, she would ring the bell whenever she wanted something. He put it back down where it was. "Do you think you can pick it up?"

"I think so..." Gingerly, Fudge lifted the bell and gave it a small ring.

"Okay." Luigi kissed her. "You have the TV." He gestured to the TV he had brought up into Fudge's room. "And your portable DVD player is in its usual spot." Fudge kept it on the desk in her bedroom. "Just let someone know if you need help with putting movies on."

"And I'll be here", Lightning added.

"You will?"

"Absolutely. I'm not racing right now, so whenever you need me, I'll be here, all right? I don't care if it's two in the morning and all you want is some ice cream."

"I'm gonna make you regret that!" Fudge teased, though she was extremely grateful.

"I doubt it! I wanna be here with you!" The race car gave her a kiss.

"Thanks..."

"So", Lightning spoke up. He turned to Luigi and Guido. "What do you say we get all of Fudge's stuff packed up while she takes a nap?"

"Okay!" Guido agreed while Luigi just nodded curtly. The Fiat wasn't really making snide remarks towards Lightning anymore (except for the occasional one), but he was still making it clear that the stock car wasn't forgiven.

Lightning looked back at Fudge and kissed the top of her head. "Sssh... Go to sleep."

* * *

So, that was what happened. All of Fudge's things were put away while the girl slept.

"Fudge's clothes need washing", Luigi commented.

"I'll put them on!" Lightning announced, scooping them up.

Guido smiled gratefully. " _Grazie_."

"I just want you to know", Luigi began, glaring at Lightning coldly, "that I am still not happy that you are here."

"I know."

"You can't just help me look after my daughter and think you are being a hero! It does not change what you have done to her!"

"Luigi, this isn't about making things right with you!" the race car reasoned. "This is about being there for Fudge!"

"Fine!" Luigi huffed.

Lightning looked confused for a moment before shrugging it off and putting Fudge's clothes in the wash.

* * *

Fudge slept for a couple of hours before being woken up by a voice whispering her name gently. Opening her eyes ever so slightly, her vision was blurred. She was surrounded by a series of colourful blobs. However, after rubbing her eyes and putting on her glasses, those blobs took on the shapes of Lightning, Flo, Finn, Holley and Sammy.

"I brought you some lunch, honey", Flo announced, bringing forward a tray of soup and sandwiches along with another cup of water. "You've been in the hospital so long I'm worried you've forgotten what real food tastes like!"

The twelve-year-old lit up and gave a little laugh. "I think I have! Thanks, Flo! I can't wait to eat something _you've_ made!" Flo could cook just about anything and it would always be scrumptious.

As predicted, the soup Flo made was delicious. The only problem was that Fudge was still feeling kind of sick and didn't feel like she could eat all of it.

"Is something wrong, honey?" Flo asked, concerned. "Don't you like it?"

"No. I do. It's really good, Flo. I just... don't feel very well. I don't think I can eat it all."

"Come on, Fudge!" the ex show car pushed her gently, aiming the spoon at her lips once again (Fudge was unable to do that herself.) "I know you're still sick, but Dr. Wilson says you still gotta eat."

"I know..." Reluctantly, the tween took another slurp of soup. "Where are Luigi and Guido?"

"They're downstairs, working", Flo replied.

"Speaking of work", Finn piped up, "we came over to say goodbye. We have another mission and, as much as we would like to stay with you, we can't afford any more time off."

"Yeah. Siddeley's outside, waiting", Sammy chimed in. "He said he's ready when we are."

"Okay... Where are you off to?"

"We can't say", Finn responded.

"Well, good luck."

"Thank you, Fudge", all three chorused. "Take care of yourself, all right? Get well soon."

"I'll try!" she chuckled.

"Oh, and before we go, I wanted to give you something." Sammy hoisted a cardboard box from the floor to the bed. "Most of this is some of my old clothes. I've been told you were going through clothes a lot lately, so I figured some of these might fit you."

Fudge smiled weakly and nodded. "Thanks."

"There's something else in here too. Something besides clothes." The human spy dug through the box before pulling out a DVD box set. It was a vaguely familiar sounding TV show called _Friends_. "This show always makes me feel better whenever _I've_ had a s**tty day. And I think you've had a lot of those lately."

"I have!" Fudge agreed, making a pathetic face. She looked at the box set sceptically. It didn't look like the type of show she'd normally watch. "Thanks."

"No problem... What are sisters for?"

"Boy, am I lucky to have a sister like you!" Fudge proclaimed.

"And I'm lucky to have a sister like you!" Sammy added. "Love you."

"Love you too!"

* * *

"You okay, sweetie?" Lightning questioned once they, along with Flo, were gone and he had given her the medication she required, which was two pills after each meal.

"I don't know... I'm just tired."

"Yeah."

"I wanna sleep!"

McQueen chuckled. "Well, you gotta stay awake for a couple hours now. You can go to sleep at four until Flo comes back with your dinner at six-thirty."

"Okay", Fudge agreed reluctantly.

"All right... What do you say we keep going with these thank-you letters?" While she'd been in the hospital, Fudge had been dictating thank-you letters for everyone who sent flowers, cards and presents while she was in the hospital. It was taking a long time because there were so many.

"Good idea."

"All right..." Lightning pulled out the list of people to send thank-you letters to. "We were up to Miss Fritter, weren't we?"

"I think so... We did Ethan, right?" Ethan Andrews was an old friend of Fudge's, who lived in Australia.

"Ethan? Yep."

"So, we _are_ up to Miss Fritter. Wow!" Fudge exclaimed, eyeing all of the presents she'd received again. I just can't believe how many people sent stuff! I never realised how popular _I_ was with your fans!"

"Well, it turns out you're very!"

"Yeah..." Fudge agreed, thinking that it was such a great feeling to be loved.

 **Doc does make several appearances in Fudge's dreams throughout this story. You know, because I mentioned he's often there when Fudge is sick or hurt.**

 **Don't worry. Luigi and Guido aren't going to abandon Fudge. They _do_ help to look after her, but it doesn't come up that much in the story because it focuses on Fudge and Lightning's relationship. I just felt like it was important to clarify that now.**

 **Oh, and if you don't know who Ethan is, he is Colonel Beanbags's character, who has made an appearance in my new story, _Cars Origins: What the Fudge?_ Feel free to check that out as well.**

 **Please review!**


	18. More Time Goes By

**Even though it's only been a couple of days, I thought I'd give you a brand new chapter today! And another one.**

 **Also, sorry if I sound like a pain, but I would appreciate people reading my rules for reviews and PMs, if you haven't done so already. Thank you in advance.**

 **Chapter 18- More Time Goes By**

Fudge didn't know how she did it, but she managed to stay awake until four-thirty. She got woken up at half past six for a dinner of roast chicken, broccoli, mashed potatoes and gravy. She had the exact same problem she'd had with her lunch; it was delicious, but she didn't really feel like eating.

"I know, honey", Flo repeated as she brought some food closer to her mouth, "but you still gotta eat."

The former show car refused to leave until Fudge had eaten every single bite, which she did reluctantly.

* * *

Even though it was only seven o'clock by the time Flo was gone, Fudge fell asleep right away and stayed that way until morning. When she woke up, she heard the familiar sound of the reveille in the distance.

" **WILL** **YOU TURN THAT DISRESPECTFUL JUNK OFF?!** "

"Respect the classics, man! It's Hendrix!"

Fudge heard that and burst into tears. There was only one place in the entire world where she could hear that as soon as she woke up and that was at home! She was just so happy to be home!

It wasn't long before both Flo and Lightning showed up. Again, Flo had a tray of food, which she insisted on making sure Fudge consumed. After that, Flo left, but Lightning stayed. As he promised, he spent the whole day with Fudge. The first thing he did was get her dressed. Sort of.

"Now, are you _sure_ you don't want to put some pants on?" he quizzed Fudge for the fiftieth time. "I mean, I could get you into your pyjamas if you-"

"No, it's fine", she assured him. "I'm comfortable like this."

"All right..." the racer agreed, pulling off the shirt she'd been wearing since the previous morning. "It's your call. Just let me know if you change your mind."

"I will", she assured him.

* * *

The two spent a very quiet, comfortable day together. Most of it was spent continuing with the thank-you letters, watching movies and TV. Lightning read to Fudge for a little while from some of her favourite books. They also spent a little while talking. At first, that was kind of awkward. Of course, they already knew each other and all that, but for some reason, it felt like they didn't. It was probably because they'd been through so much over the last couple of months. Would it be okay for them to talk about something else? Slowly, they started to talk about other stuff like who they thought was going to win the Piston Cup with Lightning not racing and Fudge's plans once she'd made a full recovery.

"I can't wait to go racing again!" she declared at one point.

Those words made Lightning hesitate. Fudge _wanted_ to go racing again?! He hadn't even _considered_ letting her do that again! How _could_ he?! He'd almost gotten her _killed_! Even now, there was no guarantee that she would ever walk again! Fudge knew that he felt guilty about the whole thing (it was kind of obvious with the countless apologies she'd received from him), but she didn't know how much it had affected him. She didn't know about the nightmares he had constantly about that fateful night. She didn't know how hard it had been to get back out on the track, knowing what he'd done to her. She didn't know about how he'd gone at the first race of the season and left not even a quarter of the way through. She didn't _need_ to know about any of that. He never wanted to go through this ever again. He never wanted to put _her_ through this ever again. Besides, even if he _did_ , he knew he had a zero per cent chance of getting Luigi's blessing after this.

Finally, the only response he could come up with was, "Well, that won't be for a while, Fudge-O. For now, you just focus on getting better, all right?"

"All right", Fudge agreed.

* * *

It was a pretty easy day for Fudge. On the other tyre, Lightning was pretty busy for most of it. I mean, sure, he was watching movies and talking to Fudge (a lot of their talks over the next few weeks were deep and serious talks about their thoughts and feelings and stuff like that). However, while he did all of that, he brushed her hair, cleaned up after her and even helped her in the bathroom, which was very awkward. She didn't know how he put up with her. She must've been a pain, needing everything doing for her (and Luigi would leave him notes with tasks to be done; that way, he could avoid talking to him), but not once did Lightning complain. Though, Fudge felt like he had every right to do so. Still, she appreciated everything he did for her and had to smile when "Count on Me" by Bruno Mars came on the radio; the song was very fitting.

Luigi and Guido were constantly in and out all day, checking to see that their daughter was still okay. Well, Luigi was more out than in and Fudge couldn't help but get the feeling that Lightning was the reason. However, she didn't feel like she could do anything about it; Luigi was still really mad at Lightning.

Everyone else in town came by to see her at various points during the day. They'd all talk to Fudge to try and cheer her up and Red brought her some flowers he grew himself. The biggest groups seemed to be when Flo came with lunch and dinner for her.

"We wanted to make sure you'd be awake!" Sarge had pointed out with a chuckle.

Fudge had given a weak smile as she swallowed a mouthful of lasagne, which Flo had made her with some garlic bread. "I guess so." She gave a loud yawn.

"Still tired, are you?" Ramone questioned.

"Very!" Fudge's eyes were already starting to close.

"Come on, Fudge-O!" Lightning gave her a gentle shake. "You gotta stay awake just until you finish your dinner."

"And you gotta finish your dinner!" Flo insisted, getting some more lasagne onto the fork.

"Okay..." Fudge agreed reluctantly as she took the lasagne.

* * *

"Lightning?!" Fudge exclaimed in a panic once everyone else had left and she had finished off her medication.

"What?" he asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"I don't feel very well... I feel like..." Before she could finish her sentence, Fudge made the most god-awful gagging noises until she threw up all over her bed.

The first time she saw the lasagne and garlic bread Flo had made her for dinner, it had looked fantastic. However, when it came back up, not so much.

"Sorry", the girl whimpered, tears glistening in her eyes. "I'm sorry."

McQueen sighed, patting her knee gently. "Don't be, Fudge. It's all right."

At that moment, Luigi and Guido came in.

"Fudgie? Is everything okay?" Luigi questioned worriedly.

"Yeah..." The human girl wiped at the corners of her mouth. "Just..."

"She's just been a bit sick", Lightning explained.

"All over my bed!" Fudge added, sniffling a little.

"My poor baby!" Luigi kissed her.

"I'm sorry..." she repeated.

"No, no, no, no! Don't be." Luigi commenced the task of changing his daughter's bed. "It is okay."

"Are you sure?"

Luigi chuckled. "Of course. Don't worry about it." He pulled the vomit-covered sheets off. "But I will get you a bucket, okay? So, you can be sick in there."

Fudge nodded. "Okay. _Grazie_."

"(I will get it!)" Guido hurried out of the room.

"Do you think you can stay awake a little while longer?" Lightning wanted to know.

"Maybe... Why?"

"Guido and I are gonna put you in the bath while Luigi gets your bed cleaned up."

"Okay..." Fudge felt a little uncomfortable with that, but there was no way she could do bathe herself now. She could barely lift a finger. Besides, it didn't seem as bad as being unable to go to the bathroom herself.

"All right..." Lightning pulled back the covers, scooped Fudge up (she was so limp and fragile that he felt like he was holding a doll!) and put her in the wheelchair.

"Hey, Guido!" Fudge greeted her father as they ran into him in the hallway.

"Fudgie!" He gave her a kiss before looking up at Lightning. "You... put Fudge... in bath?"

"Yeah. She's assured me that she can stay awake long enough to have a bath."

Guido chuckled, opening the bathroom door. "Okay."

"Not too hot, not too cold", Fudge noted, satisfied once she'd felt the water. "The water feels good. I'm not in so much pain now. The water works better than the medication."

"Well, that's good", Lightning commented.

"Can we just forget about the hospital and the medication and the surgeries and I can just live here?" the tween asked.

Her father and her brother just chuckled.

* * *

Once she was dried off, Guido and Lightning helped her get into a clean T-shirt and underwear.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want to get put in your pyjamas?" Lightning questioned.

"I'm sure."

"(Okay. We just want you to be comfortable)", Guido added.

"(I am like this), Fudge assured him.

"Okay." Guido pulled Fudge's shirt over her.

* * *

Fudge was asleep before she could even get back to her bedroom. When she woke up, it was to Flo whispering her name gently. The morning sunlight was pouring through the curtains; it was morning and she went through the same routine over again that day and for the next few days and even weeks. The first day that was slightly different was a couple of weeks later when Fudge was about to return to the hospital for back surgery.

There was a quiet knock at Fudge's bedroom door.

"Fudge?" came Sarge's voice.

Fudge, who had just been waking up from a nap, sat up sleepily. "Yeah?"

"Sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No. No... I was waking up anyway..." She pulled on her glasses and she could just barely do _that_ on her own. "What time is it?"

"About sixteen hundred hours."

Fudge was used to Sarge giving the time like that, so she knew what he meant. "Thanks... Where is everyone?"

"Everyone?" Sarge repeated.

"You know... Luigi, Guido, Lightning, Fillmore."

"Luigi and Guido are downstairs, working in the shop", the Jeep reported. "McQueen's just returning a call from Rusty and Dusty and putting a load of washing on for Luigi and Guido. Fillmore is at home, still trying to sell that freak juice."

"Oh, good. I was worried that something had happened to Fillmore", Fudge joked.

Confusion took over Sarge's face. "Why?"

"Because you two always come over and see me together. And you do a lot of other stuff together."

Sarge couldn't help smiling. "Fudge, you know there's no law that says Fillmore and I have to do absolutely everything together."

"I know!" Fudge giggled. "It just seems like you often do."

Sarge chuckled as he came over and ruffled her hair. "How you doing, soldier?"

"I mean, I've been better, but I'm doing okay..."

"You're not nervous about going back to the hospital tomorrow?" Her back surgery was in two days, but the doctors wanted her to come in a day early to check up on her and make sure she had nothing to eat or drink before the surgery.

Fudge's face took on a pathetic look. "You had to remind me, didn't you?"

"Whether I remind you or not, you're still going back", Sarge reasoned.

"I _know_..." Fudge groaned. "I just didn't wanna think about it!" Her eyes welled up with tears. "I just got _out_ of the hospital! I don't wanna go back! I don't want surgery! I don't want all of the needles and medications and the sickness from all of that again! Plus, I won't be allowed to eat or drink anything because I'm having surgery and that makes me even _more_ sick! I wanna stay here!" Fudge was crying hard by then.

"It's all right, soldier", Sarge assured her, stroking her hair. "You're not gonna be in hospital for that long this time. You should only be there for a week, tops. It could be earlier than that, though; it depends on how your recovery goes."

"I know", Fudge repeated, not at all comforted by Sarge's words. "Luigi's told me all of that. But I don't want to go at _all_ , Sarge! I _hate_ it there! I..."

"I know", he assured her quietly. "I know."

"Fudge!" a voice called from the other side of the door. Said door opened and Lightning came in. "What's wrong?"

"I don't wanna go back to the hospital tomorrow!"

"I know you don't." The racer parked by her bedside and took her hand. For the millionth time since she awoke from her coma, he wished he could give her a hug, but she was still too fragile.

"I'm scared!"

"I know you are. It's okay to be scared, but it's gonna be fine. This is a routine operation."

"But things can still go wrong!"

"I know", Lightning repeated. "I know it's scary, but there's nothing you can do to change it, so you might as well deal with it."

" _That_ helps", Fudge mumbled sarcastically.

"I know it's not really what you wanna hear right now, but it's true."

"And Flo said she's making you a very special dinner tonight", Sarge announced. "Since you won't be able to eat or drink till after your surgery."

* * *

And she did. Flo came in a couple of hours later with a delicious dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, which was one of her favourites. On top of that, it came with a can of cherry Coke and a slice of strawberry cheesecake, both of which were also Fudge's favourites.

"You okay?" Lightning asked her at one point after Flo left.

"Yeah... Why?"

"You seem a little quiet", he observed.

"I'm just nervous about tomorrow."

"Yeah. I know you are, but please try not to worry about tomorrow, all right, Fudge?"

"I'll try..."

"You need to try and take your mind off it", he informed her. "Think you can stay awake for some TV or a movie?"

"I _can_ , but we've _seen_ everything 'cause I've got nothing else to do."

"Not everything", Lightning pointed out. "We still haven't seen the DVDs Sammy gave you." They hadn't watched _Friends_ yet.

Fudge made a face. "They look _boring_!"

"I'll admit, it's not something I'd normally watch, but let's not knock it before we try it", the race car responded, trying to sound more enthusiastic than he felt.

"All right..."

* * *

However, a couple of hours later, the two were laughing and holding a mad discussion over who the best character was.

"Joey's really funny!" Fudge voiced her opinion.

"Yeah, well, I think Chandler's the funniest", Lightning replied. "Though, Rachel's pretty hot. But don't tell Sally I said that!" he added hurriedly.

"I won't!" Fudge giggled. "Do you think they'll ever get together? Ross and Rachel?"

"Only one way to find out."

"Yeah, but I'm pretty tired..."

"All right. We'll save the next disc for another time. You go to sleep and I'll have Luigi and Guido come up and say good night." He made sure the covers were over her properly and kissed her. "Good night, Fudge-O."

"Good night, Lightning. I love you."

He gave her a smile and another kiss. "Love you too."

Fudge drifted off with a little smile on her face. She was so lucky to have the best brother in the entire world. He had been comforting and made her try something new, which could quite possibly become her new obsession. Sure, she was still dreading going back to the hospital in the morning and nervous about her surgery, but thanks to Lightning, she felt a hell of a lot more relaxed than she had been in a long time.

 **So, that was just a filler chapter, but I kind of liked it; it shows that Lightning would do anything for Fudge.**

 **Please review.**


	19. Heartbreaking News for Fudge

**In case you didn't notice, there is another chapter before this one.**

 **I really hope the name of this chapter doesn't put you off, but remember: this story is an emotional rollercoaster. There will be some good stuff soon.**

 **Chapter 19- Heartbreaking News For Fudge**

" _Now, Ross, repeat after me", the minister began. "I, Ross..._ "

" _I, Ross_... _" Ross repeated._

" _Take thee Emily..."_

" _Take thee Rachel..."_

Fudge and Lightning's eyes widened in expressions as shocked as the characters on the screen in front of them. Emily did _not_ look happy.

" _Emily!" Ross tried to correct himself, laughing nervously. "Emily!"_

" _Uh... Shall I go on?" the minister asked._

Both Fudge (who was lying in bed with the swan from Lightning wrapped around her neck) and Lightning were on the edge of their seats and were disappointed when the response to the question was the end credits. It was a Thursday afternoon in the middle of May and the two of them were hooked on _Friends_ , for which they both knew that they had Sammy to thank.

"I gotta go!" Lightning announced, kissing Fudge on the temple.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Fudge cried. "Don't you wanna find out what happens next?!"

Lightning paused. He knew she hadn't just meant to ask if he wanted to find out what happened next; she was also asking if he wanted to stay with her. "Sure I do", he assured her. "But I also wanna go and have dinner with Sally and go tractor tipping with Mater. I'm sure they both miss me and maybe even forgotten what I look like." He gave the twelve-year-old a smile and rubbed her leg. "You've been taking up a lot of my time lately."

"I know. Sorry."

"It's all right. You don't have to be sorry. You can't help being unwell. Mater and Sally know you haven't been well too."

The stock car looked at her and felt sympathy get the better of him. Fudge had been home for a few weeks now, apart from the trips to the hospital for check-ups once every week or two and occasional surgeries. Even so, she really _did_ look unwell. Her face was still pale, she looked really weak and tired, her legs and knees looked thin and unable to support her and she was still using the vomit bucket regularly (one time, her glasses slid off her face while she was bent over the vomit bucket and fell in!). She felt so crap that it was hard to get her to do anything, including cooperate whenever one of the others tried to take care of her. She hadn't been bathed or deodorised in a couple of days and she'd been wearing the exact same clothes in that time too.

"All right. You go and have fun. I'll just miss you."

"Aw, sweetie, I'll miss you too!" Lightning replied, stroking her hair and kissing her again. He glanced over at the clock. "What time is it? Five-thirty. Flo should be here in about an hour with your dinner, I'm sure some of the others'll come and see you too. And I'll be back first thing in the morning."

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too."

"Hey, Stickers!" a voice called out behind McQueen.

He turned around and broke out into a huge smile. "Sally!"

"I thought I'd come over here to see Fudge and pick you up for dinner."

"Sounds good to me."

"Hey, Sally", Fudge greeted.

"Hey, sweetie." She came over and gave Fudge a kiss. "How are you feeling?"

"The same", Fudge reported quietly. She still didn't feel that much of a difference in pain and sickness from when she first woke up from the coma. Sure, she felt a _little_ better since then, but not by much.

"You'll feel better soon", the Porsche promised her. "It won't always be like this."

"I hope not..." After several months, she was having a very hard time believing that.

* * *

The three of them talked for a little while before Sally and Lightning left at about six o'clock while Fudge stared at the next _Friends_ DVD longingly. She was desperate to know what happened next, but she didn't put it on for two reasons. First of all, it didn't seem fair to Lightning if she watched it without him. Second of all, she was getting pretty tired and...

The next thing Fudge remembered hearing was, again, her name. This time when she opened her eyes, there were Luigi, Guido, Flo and Ramone.

"I fell asleep _again_?!" she groaned, sitting up.

"It looks that way!" Ramone chuckled.

"Sally and Lightning left at about six o'clock..." Fudge glanced at a clock to see that it read 6:44. "I didn't even realise I'd dozed off."

"We can see that!" Luigi laughed. "You are still wearing your glasses."

"Well, in any case, I got your dinner here, honey." Flo came closer to the bed with a plate of lamb chops and vegetables.

" _Grazie_..."

"So, what have you been up to today, Miss Fudge?" Flo asked as she fed the girl.

"Mostly sleeping", Fudge answered, making everyone laugh.

"Anything else?" That was Luigi.

Fudge swallowed some lamb. "Lightning and I finished season four of _Friends_ today!"

"(You two are really enjoying that show, aren't you?)" Guido commented. "(Every time I come in here when you are watching that show, you are smiling.)"

"Well, I didn't think I _would_ , but I really do!"

"Well, that is good." Luigi gave her a kiss.

"It just sucks. Lightning left when the last episode of the season ended and it ended on a cliffhanger! I wanna know what happens next!"

"(I am sure you will soon)", Guido promised her.

Fudge smiled and nodded. "I hope so."

* * *

"Okay. Fudge has just come out of the bath", Sally reported, entering the kitchen in Casa Della Tires. "Stickers is just drying her off now."

Guido smiled gratefully as he picked up another dish to wash and dry. " _Grazie_."

" _Grazie_ , Sally", Luigi echoed from his spot at the kitchen table where he was parked, reading.

It was about a week later and May was almost over. Still not a lot had changed with the RS gang, especially not with Fudge. She was still stuck in bed, sleeping a lot and refusing to wear any more than a T-shirt and underwear. She still required a lot of care, which the rest of her family continued to give her. Her family still came by to see her every single day. She was still in and out of hospital (she was due to go back in a couple of days for a check-up and soon, yet another knee surgery). On top of that, Luigi and Lightning still hadn't made up.

"Now, Guido", Sally appeared at the forklift's side, "why don't you let me finish off those dishes for you?"

"No. _Grazie_ ", he responded politely.

"Come on." Sally took the tea towel from him. "With Luigi still meant to be taking it easy after his engine attack and Fudge on bedrest, the last thing we want is _you_ getting sick on us too by doing too much." With everything that had happened over the year, this was something that Sally- and everyone else in town- genuinely feared.

Guido spoke in Italian as he took the towel back and returned to his task. Luigi translated without looking up from his book. "He says he can take care of his own family."

"I'm sure you can", Sally assured him. She smiled. "Tell you what. I'll finish these dishes for you and you can go on up and say good night to Fudge. She'll probably be asleep soon."

Guido hesitated for just a second before he smiled gratefully again. " _Grazie_ ", he repeated, dropping the towel and hurrying off. Luigi was quick to put down his book and follow him.

Sally laughed and started on the dishes.

When Luigi and Guido got up to Fudge's bedroom, Lightning was just helping her into bed.

"We just came up to say good night", Luigi informed her.

Fudge smiled as she lay back and started to close her eyes. "Okay. Good night."

Luigi chuckled and kissed his daughter on the forehead as he tucked her in.

"Yeah, well, I guess I should say good night too, Fudge-O", Lightning announced. "Sally and I are gonna go home now to have a late dinner and go to sleep." He gave Fudge a kiss. "Love you, sweetie. See you tomorrow."

"Love you too..." Fudge murmured sleepily, returning the kiss.

"All right..." Lightning gave her another kiss and drove off to join Sally.

* * *

The next morning, the citizens of Radiator Springs awoke to a very wonderful surprise. As usual, Luigi and Guido went over to Flo's for a sip of oil like everyone else. However, on this particular morning, Fudge joined them!

"Fudge!" everyone exclaimed happily as they each headed over to Flo's one by one and rushed over to greet the girl with kisses.

"Hi!" She would smile broadly with every member of her family that arrived at the café.

"How are you?"

"I'm doing okay."

"What are you doing here?"

"I've missed this place."

The twelve-year-old hadn't just missed Flo's; she missed the atmosphere of it. It had been months since she'd sat around there, talking and laughing with her family about random topics. She felt like everything had been about her lately, so with the others chatting about everything from sports to politics, everything felt a little more normal.

At least, until Sally gave Luigi and Guido a suggestion.

"You know, I've been thinking", she informed them, "I think once Fudge gets out of the hospital this time, you two deserve a weekend away."

Luigi looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "What?"

"Come on. You've been through a lot this year. Luigi's already had an engine attack and I'm worried Guido's gonna get sick. I think you should get away for a weekend and rest."

"What about Fudge?"

"Yeah!" Fudge cried. "What about _me_?! I don't want them to go!"

"It is okay, Fudge", Luigi assured her. "We are not going anywhere."

"We'll look after her", Sally promised. "Will you please just go?"

"Fine! We will think about it."

* * *

"So, have you thought about it?" Sally quizzed Luigi later that evening as he helped Fudge pack up for her return to the hospital in the morning.

"Yes! We are not going anywhere!"

"Luigi!" Sally sighed.

"Luigi?" Fudge whimpered, her eyes welling up with tears. "I don't want to go back to the hospital... I hate it there!"

"I know, I know!" The Fiat kissed the top of her head. He felt so sorry for her; they went through this every single time she had to go back into the hospital. "It is only for a few days, Fudgie. Then you will be home again."

"But I don't wanna go at all!" she wept. "Besides, it's not just for a few days! I'll be back there soon! I... I've been in hospital pretty much all year! I wanna just stay at home!"

"I know, but you have been very good so far", Luigi informed her. "You have been very brave. Can you keep being brave for Luigi?"

"Okay", she sniffled reluctantly.

* * *

Even so, there were _lots_ of tears the next morning.

"No!" Fudge shouted as she was being wheeled into the hospital. "No, no, no, no!"

"It is okay, Fudgie!" Luigi assured her.

"We'll get you up into your room", the nurse told her, "and Dr. Green will come up and see you shortly."

Fudge tried to calm herself down once she got up to her room. However, it was hard when she got hooked up to the IV.

"No! Not the IV!" she wailed. "I _hate_ the IV!"

"I know", the nurse, Matt, told her. "But you need the IV. Dr. Green will be here soon."

With that, he walked out of the room, leaving Fudge to cry her eyes out.

* * *

"Hey, Fudge-O!" Lightning greeted her warmly as he entered about half an hour later. Her doctor had come and gone by then.

"Hi..." she sniffled. She hadn't _quite_ stopped crying yet. "Where are Luigi and Guido?"

"They're just outside, talking to Dr. Green. Then I think Sally's gonna talk to them and try to convince them to go away for the weekend."

"Okay..."

"How you doing?"

"Not good..." she replied. "I wanna go home!"

"I know", he sympathised, "but you can be a brave girl, can't you?"

"Yeah..." She sure didn't sound like she _wanted_ to be a brave girl.

"I know you can." He gave her a kiss. "And I got something fun we can do till your doctor comes back and starts doing tests again."

"What?" she questioned, looking at him with tear-filled eyes.

" _This_." He held up the latest _Friends_ DVD.

"Yes!" Fudge cheered.

* * *

"Fudgie!" Luigi and Guido called out, entering Fudge's room.

"Hold on!" Fudge cried, not taking her eyes off the portable DVD player. "We gotta find out if Ross chooses Rachel or Emily!"

The two Italians laughed. "You must really love that show!" Luigi commented, kissing his daughter.

Fudge gave a small smile. "It's good!"

"Don't worry!" Lightning chuckled. "It's almost over. _Then_ she'll look at you."

However, once the episode was over, Dr. Green showed up followed by two nurses.

"It's time to take Brittney off for some tests", he announced.

"Okay..." Fudge sounded far from enthusiastic, but to everyone's surprise and her credit, she didn't cry as she often did.

"Come on..." The nurses started wheeling Fudge off down the hall.

"Okay. We love you." Luigi, Guido and Lightning all came forward and kissed her before she got taken away.

"I'm so glad I changed your mind", Sally commented to Luigi once Fudge had been taken off and Guido and Lightning were grabbing a cup of coffee.

"Yes", Luigi sighed. "Guido and I are going away to the beach for a weekend."

"Well, I think this can be very good for you", Sally insisted.

Luigi sighed again. "Where is everyone else?"

"I think they'll be here in about an hour", the Porsche reported.

"Okay. When they are here, I want to talk to everyone about something important." All of a sudden, Luigi shifted to being excited and full of energy.

"Really? What?"

Luigi smiled. "You will have to wait and see..."

Sally was right. After about an hour, the rest of the RS gang showed up at the hospital. Luigi was very eager to talk to them about something. "It is important! Fudge is not back yet and I want to talk to you all before she is!" he babbled.

Sally laughed. "He's been like this for the last hour!"

"All right, Luigi. What is this about?" Sheriff asked.

"Okay", Luigi began. "So, with how crazy everything has been lately, you may have forgotten- I only remembered myself last night- but it is Fudge's birthday in three weeks!"

Everyone laughed and exclaimed things like, "Oh, that's _right_!", and, "Of course!", and, "I can't believe we forgot about that!"

"Can you believe it?!" Flo shook her hood in disbelief. "In three weeks, Fudge is gonna be _thirteen_!" She looked at Luigi and Guido. "Your daughter will be a _teenager_!"

"I know!" Luigi was smiling and his eyes looked very watery. "Where has the time gone?!"

"It feels like it was only yesterday you came racing up to Flo's, telling Doc you found a woman in labour just outside of town", Sarge commented. "That was the most exciting day in town for a _long_ time."

"And our town changed for the better after that", Sheriff added.

"I know!" Luigi repeated. "And we want to make her birthday _very_ special this year!"

"I can understand that", Sally informed him. "I mean, we almost lost her earlier this year."

"Yes, and we know it has been a very hard year for Fudgie, so we want her to forget about that for one day... And we will need your help to plan the perfect birthday for her!"

"What ideas do you have so far?" Sarge wanted to know.

"We have an idea of a very special present we want to give her. Something we know she has wanted for a long time... but it is a surprise!"

"You're gonna buy her Disneyland!" Ramone joked.

Luigi laughed. "No. I wish we could, but..." He trailed off.

"Well, I can make her a cake!" Flo suggested. "Or a trifle." Fudge _loved_ trifle.

"I am sure she will love that. What else?"

"We can have a neon cruise!" Lightning added. "With all of the songs on her iPod over the speakers!" He grinned and added, "I can put up with 'Gangnam Style' for one night!"

Everyone piped up with more suggestions and were beginning to get excited.

"This is going to be Fudge's best birthday ever!" Luigi declared.

"I'm sure she'll forget about how unwell she's been lately", Lightning agreed.

* * *

"Luigi Topolino?" A doctor approached the group.

"I should go." Luigi reversed to drive off back to Fudge's room. Guido followed. "We will keep talking about this later. And don't tell Fudge!" He joined the doctor. "Yes?"

"Fudge is going to need another surgery on her knees in a few weeks", the doctor reported. (All of the doctors and nurses had started calling her Fudge by this point.) "We will be in touch about when that will be."

Luigi nodded. "Okay."

"I don't _want_ another surgery!" Fudge groaned.

"I know, but you can be a brave girl, can't you, Fudgie?"

"Okay", she muttered halfheartedly.

* * *

The next few days were spent visiting Fudge in the hospital, Luigi and Guido preparing for their weekend trip to the beach and creating plans for Fudge's big birthday celebration. However, it didn't take long for everything to fall apart once more...

It all started on Friday afternoon when Luigi and Guido were getting ready to leave for the weekend.

"Are you sure you will be okay for the weekend?" Luigi quizzed his daughter and his friends as they were all gathered at Flo's right before they left.

"Yeah. We'll be fine", everyone except Fudge assured him.

"No!" Fudge cried.

Everyone turned to stare at her. She'd been very quiet all day. It wasn't just because Guido and Luigi were leaving, but also because she'd heard them arguing again that morning about whether or not they should go.

"It is okay, Fudgie." Luigi gave her a kiss. "We will miss you too, but everyone here will take good care of you. Unless McQueen-" He stopped, realising that everyone else was giving him death stares. "Okay. Luigi is going to go before he starts crying." He kissed her yet again. "I love you."

"I love you too, Luigi."

Guido came forward and gave Fudge a kiss. "(Be good, Fudgie! We will miss you so much, but we will be back Sunday night, okay?)"

"Okay..." Fudge murmured softly. She looked like she was about to cry.

"(I love you.)"

"(I love you too.)"

"Guido! We should get going now!" Luigi called.

"Okay!" Guido responded, giving his daughter one last quick kiss before following his best friend in the direction of the highway.

The second that the two Italians were out of sight, Fudge started crying.

"Hey!" The rest of the Radiator Springs residents crowded round to comfort her. "It's gonna be all right, Fudge. We're gonna look after you, all right?"

"I know... I'm just gonna miss them."

"Yeah, we know."

"Should we go home now, Fudge-O?" Lightning suggested. He was staying with Fudge at Casa Della Tires for the weekend and Fudge had insisted that he slept in her bedroom with her, to which he agreed immediately (and Sally was going to stay over too, in case of any problems). "I think you're just about ready for a nap now."

"Okay..." Fudge agreed, trying to dry her eyes.

"And then, when you wake up, we'll watch some more _Friends_ , all right?"

"All right." Fudge managed a smile.

* * *

The rest of the day was pretty much uneventful. As Lightning promised, the two of them watched some more _Friends_ once Fudge had woken up from her nap. By the time it was over, Fudge was already yearning for another nap, but she knew it was close to dinnertime, so she would have to wait. Of course, Flo came in five minutes after they were finished with the DVD and she had a tray of macaroni and cheese with cut-up hot dog pieces, which was a favourite of Fudge's (the first time she'd had it was while Lightning was babysitting her).

"Hey, honey! You ready for dinner now?"

"Yeah... Thanks, Flo. It looks and smells delicious!"

To make things even better, just as she was finishing up her dinner, Fudge heard the sound of the phone ringing.

"I got it!" Sally, who was downstairs and had probably just arrived, called out. She answered it. "Hello?... Oh, hey, Luigi!... Yeah, Fudge is fine... I just got here. Flo's up there, now feeding her." Sally laughed. "Well, that makes sense... Sure. Just hold on a sec. Hey, Stickers!" she called upstairs. "Can you put Fudge on the other extension? Luigi and Guido want to talk to her! They called when they were sure she'd be awake, having dinner."

Lightning chuckled. "All right!" He picked up the extension and handed it to Fudge.

"Hi!" she called out.

" _Fudgie_!" the two Italians exclaimed, clearly happy to hear from her.

" _How are you?_ " Luigi added.

"I'm okay", she replied. "I miss you guys, but other than that..."

" _We miss you too, angel_ ", Luigi assured her, " _but we will be back in two days._ "

"I know."

" _So, what are you doing?_ " Luigi wanted to know.

"Lightning and I watched some more episodes of _Friends_ and I've just finished dinner."

" _What did you have?_ "

"Mac and cheese with hot dog pieces."

" _Lucky girl! That is one of your favourite dinners!_ "

"I know! It was yummy-yummy!"

" _Have you had your medication?_ "

"Not yet", she responded, "but I will soon."

" _Good girl_."

Fudge talked to her fathers a little while longer before hanging up with a big smile on her face. Her smile stayed on her face even as she was given her medication. The smile remained on her face as Sally and Lightning gave her a bath, got her ready for bed and she fell asleep. However, it was a couple of hours later that the trouble started.

* * *

Lightning fell asleep next to Fudge about two hours later. He had promised her that he'd stay with her because it was obvious that she wanted him and he wanted her too. Although, when he agreed to sleep with Fudge, there was one thing that he hadn't considered: his nightmares. In the middle of the night, he started becoming very unsettled in his sleep. He mumbled incoherently to himself as he wriggled around frantically. Slowly, his breathing became heavier and heavier and his words started to make more sense.

"One... two... three... four..." he counted out loud softly, bouncing on his tyres a little bit. He was dreaming about giving Fudge CPR. "Twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!" His counting and bouncing had become faster gradually. He rolled forward ever so slightly and pretended to give mouth to mouth to Fudge. "No... Nothing's happening! You gotta hurry!... Help... Help...

"Help!" he cried once more, waking up.

Lightning looked around to find that he wasn't on a racetrack on a dark stormy night. He was in Fudge's bedroom. Fudge wasn't lying, crumpled and unmoving on the track or in a hospital bed, hooked up to a billion machines with needles going into her. She was fast asleep right next to him. Her gentle breathing comforted Lightning. He knew that she was next to him and she was just sleeping, not in a coma. She was okay. Yet, that comfort and knowledge wasn't enough to slow his breathing down. He glanced at the clock, which stated that the time was 1:16. He just stared at the blinking red numbers until they were blurred behind his tears and he started to cry helplessly.

Fudge woke up to the sound of his sobs and her eyes widened in fear. She pulled her glasses on and tried to prop herself up on her elbows, but she was too weak and in pain to get all the way up. "Lightning?" she asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"

It was Lightning's turn to look at _her_ with wide eyes. "Fudge... Don't worry. I'm fine..."

Fudge was about to protest, pointing out that he wasn't fine if he was crying, but Sally came racing into the room.

"Stickers!" she cried, rushing forward and giving him a big hug.

"Sally? What's going on?" Fudge repeated.

"It's all right, sweetie", Sally assured her, ushering Lightning out of the room. "You just go back to sleep, okay? I'll take care of it."

"Okay..." Fudge lay back and tried to go back to sleep like Sally said, but she couldn't help worrying.

After several minutes, Fudge heard the sound of engines making their way down the hall slowly and quietly followed by some whispering. Sally and Lightning were coming back. So, Fudge closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep as her bedroom door opened and light from the hallway flooded in.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay, Stickers?" Sally asked doubtfully.

"I'm fine, Sal. Being with Fudge helps."

"Yeah... Guess you need to see her and know she's okay."

Lightning nodded. "Exactly." He had done this several times after having a bad dream about the accident. At first, Luigi had refused to let him in to see Fudge at stupid o'clock ("It is bad enough you are here during the day!" he had snapped. "I still do not like you being anywhere near my daughter!") Guido, on the other tyre, was much more sympathetic, reminding Luigi that the two of them also felt the need to go and see Fudge in the middle of the night to make sure she was really all right.

"Well, you know where I'll be if you need me."

Lightning nodded and kissed the Porsche. "Love you."

"Love you more."

McQueen rolled closer to Fudge just to see her. Her eyes were closed and she was pretending to be asleep, but after he'd spent several months watching her sleep a _lot_ , she couldn't fool Lightning McQueen. He knew for a fact that she was awake. Still, he didn't care. He just ran a tyre through her hair gently and smiling at her fondly.

"You're here, Fudge-O", he whispered softly. The human girl felt him kiss her on the forehead. "I'm so glad you're here."

* * *

"Are you okay?" Fudge quizzed Lightning worriedly in the morning (she had noted that it was June first, which was when she always started getting excited for her birthday!).

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine", he insisted.

"But you seemed really upset last night. What was wrong?"

"Nothing, sweetie." He kissed her. "It's all right. Just don't worry about it." To try and change the subject, he added, "Flo should be here any minute now. She's got your breakfast."

Don't worry about it. If only it were that easy. She really _was_ worried. She just hoped that he was okay. Luckily, he seemed to be doing okay. The morning the two of them had together didn't seem that different to the day before.

Luigi and Guido called while Fudge was in the middle of her lunch (again, they were trying to call when they were sure that she would be awake) and she was happy as Larry to hear from them.

" _Has the hospital called yet? We are expecting a call from them anytime soon_ ", Luigi wanted to know. They were going to call to inform Luigi and Guido when her surgery would be.

"Not yet."

" _Okay. Just let me know when they do, okay, Fudgie?_ "

"I will", she promised.

* * *

"Well, Fudge-O", Lightning began later on in the evening, "Flo said she could bring your dinner over again tonight, but if you feel up to it, we could go over there."

"Yeah!" Fudge cried, eyes lighting up. "Let's do that!"

"All right, but first, we gotta get you properly dressed, all right?"

"All right."

"Come on. You used to put clothes on every day. Now, you don't like it anymore."

Fudge shrugged as best as she could with her injuries.

Lightning chuckled. "Come on!"

In a matter of minutes, a reluctant Fudge was dressed in a pink T-shirt, a pair of white shorts and flip-flops and was being wheeled out of Casa Della Tires and over to Flo's V8 Café.

"Hey, Fudge!" everyone greeted her warmly.

"Hi!" she returned their greetings happily.

"I got your dinner here for ya, honey!" Flo had a plate holding a hamburger and fries with her and dropped it off in front of Fudge, who grinned.

"Thanks, Flo!" Fudge smiled and tucked into her burger with help from Lightning.

The twelve-year-old was in a relatively good mood that night. She was glad to be outside at Flo's, chattering away with the others about anything and everything.

"It's good to see your spirits up, soldier", Sarge remarked with a smile.

Fudge grinned. "I like it here", she explained.

Unfortunately, Fudge had no idea things were about to make her spirits come crashing down.

* * *

Fudge was leaning back in her wheelchair, just about falling asleep as she entered Casa Della Tires.

"Do you wanna go to sleep now?" Lightning asked her as he pushed her through the shop. "Or do you wanna have a bath first?"

Fudge considered her options. She yawned loudly and her eyes started watering. However, as tired as she was, she decided, "Bath sounds good." At least that way, she would have some of her pain alleviated before she went to bed. She just hoped that it wasn't too much trouble for Lightning.

The race car chuckled, eliminating Fudge's fears of being a burden. "You got it. Let's get you upstairs."

Though before they could go any further, Fudge and Lightning heard the phone ring.

Fudge lit up. "Maybe it's Luigi and Guido!" she suggested as Lightning pushed her into the living room.

He chuckled again. "Maybe. I'll go and see. You wait here." As if she could go anywhere. He kissed Fudge and drove off into the kitchen where the phone was.

An excited and anxious Fudge tried to listen to his end of the conversation.

"Hello?... No, he's not here right now, but I can take a message... Dr. Moss?" Dr. Moss was the head surgeon. "Really? Great! Great... All right... I'm sorry. When did you say it would be?... Oh." His _oh_ didn't sound good, but Fudge was quick to brush it off. "No. No problem. Just... Never mind... All right. I'll just write this down and call Luigi."

From her position in the living room, Fudge could just see a corner of the kitchen where she could see Lightning write something in the calendar on the wall. _Great_ , she thought sarcastically. She had a date to go to the hospital. Another surgery. She sure hoped it wasn't anytime soon.

"All right. Thanks. Thank you so much." Lightning hung up and the human girl could hear him coming back into the living room.

* * *

"Hey, Fudge-O..." he began and she could tell that something was wrong.

"What did Dr. Moss say?" she quizzed him automatically, fearing the worst.

Normally, Lightning would laugh at her impatience, but this time, he just sighed very heavily and gave her a sad smile. "Come on, Fudge-O." He moved closer to her and picked her up. "Up on the couch. We need to talk."

"Okay..." As her brother helped her get settled onto the couch, Fudge felt her heart rate shoot up in fear. Lightning had told her, "We need to talk." From experience, she knew any conversation that started that way could never be good. "Huh. It's raining", she observed, glancing out the window.

"Fudge", Lightning tried to get her attention.

"Yeah?"

"I'm trying to tell you something."

"Oh. Sorry." She looked back at him.

"All right", McQueen began quietly. "Look at me." Fudge did as she was told and Lightning took her hand and a deep breath. "I don't really know how to say this, except to just _say_ it." (Another deep breath). "Sweetie, that was Dr. Moss on the phone and I'm afraid I've got bad news, all right? This isn't gonna be easy for me to tell you. So, please just... just let me get through it."

Fudge looked nervous. Another bad sign; Lightning only ever called her sweetie when he knew she was upset. "All right." Her voice was barely audible.

"See, the thing is", Lightning began awkwardly, "you need another surgery."

"I know", the human girl assured him. "So, now, I gotta go to hospital, right? When's that gonna be?"

Lightning hesitated. "That's the bad news..."

"What?" Fudge demanded in a panic. No time to go to hospital was good, but what was so bad about this time?

"They want you in hospital for a week or maybe even two... starting..." He took yet another deep breath, squeezing Fudge's hand tighter. He looked into her eyes and she could see tears in his. "...starting June twelfth."

There was a pause as Fudge scrunched up her features in confusion. Then she knew what he meant. June twelfth. Fudge's birthday was June sixteenth.

"Really?" the girl murmured softly. She just couldn't believe it. She felt like she'd been punched hard. Tears pooled in her eyes, her lips trembled and her chin quivered.

Lightning nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be... It's not your fault... I mean... I'm not _happy_ about it, but..." Fudge trailed off as the tears in her eyes overflowed and came rushing down her cheeks. "There's nothing we can do about it!" she shouted, beginning to cry.

"Fudge-" Lightning began.

"So much for the Year of Fudge!" she groaned, ignoring her brother. She was shaking with sobs. "This whole year's been absolutely _crap_! And now... I... I don't even get the _one_ day that's mine! It's... It's not _fair_! I hate this!" After the crappy year she'd had, all Fudge had wanted was a break, but _that_ clearly wasn't happening.

"I know", Lightning agreed in a tight voice. His eyes were stinging and his entire body was aching; that's how hard he was trying not to cry _with_ her. (He'd been feeling that way every time Fudge cried as it brought the guilt back to him. Most of the time, he saved his tears for when he returned home.) "I know it's not fair. I'm _really_ sorry. This is all my fault. I never should have taken you racing that night."

"Don't say that!" Fudge cried. "It's not gonna change anything now!"

Fudge was crying hard by then. Lightning just didn't know what to say to her. He had never seen her so upset. Not when Doc had died, not when she was scared out of her mind during the World Grand Prix, not during any of her other hospital stays. She was crying so hard that she couldn't speak at all. She was crying so hard that she could barely see and her whole body hurt.

"Fudge!" he cried helplessly.

She gazed up at him with a wounded expression and his heart just broke. "What?"

McQueen sighed and came closer to her, squeezing her hand tighter. "Nothing." He knew that there was nothing he could say to make her feel better. Not one thing.

Fudge leaned up against him, bawling her eyes out. Lightning wanted to hug her, but she just looked way too fragile.

* * *

Neither of them had any idea how long they stayed like that before Lightning scooped Fudge up and placed her back in her wheelchair, leading her upstairs. He bathed her and got her ready for bed and, for a long time, neither of them said anything.

"I don't _need_ to go to the hospital!" Fudge insisted angrily, sniffling as Lightning was putting the covers over her and tucking her in. She had made several attempts to speak before, but she'd been crying far too hard.

Lightning sighed. "I think you do, sweetie. You're still not feeling well, are you?"

Fudge was quiet for a moment. She was going to deny it, but she knew that nothing was going to change, no matter what she said or what she did. She was just going to have to face the truth. The truth hurts, the saying goes. And ain't that the truth?

"No", she admitted. She let out a loud sniffle. "But still, you guys always tell me to... to be a brave girl! And I don't _feel_ like being a brave girl! I just wish this never happened and I didn't have to go to hospital all the time and I... I..." She cried harder.

"I know, I know", he assured her as comfortingly as he could. He understood what Fudge was saying and he really couldn't blame her for feeling that way. "I know it's hard. You know, it's gonna be all right."

"How?!" Fudge challenged him.

"Well, we _are_ gonna have to change our plans", he replied, tucking her in, "but we _will_ make sure you have a great day. For now, you just go to sleep. I know you're tired."

" _How_?!" she repeated bitterly. "How am I gonna have a good day in _hospital_?!"

"I don't know", he admitted, "but we'll figure something out, all right? I _promise_ you." He ran a tyre through her hair and kissed her. Then he whispered soothingly, "Now, go to sleep. Go to sleep, Fudge-O."

Fudge was silent for a moment, aside from her sobs. Then she stared up at Lightning, sniffling. "Lightning? Will you stay with me? Will you be here when I wake up?"

"Of course I will", he promised her gently. "Where else would I be?" He wrapped her swan around her and gave her another kiss. "Sweet dreams, Fudge." He sure hoped that sleep would let her relax for a little while and escape all of her troubles.

"I love you..." Fudge sniffled, gazing up at him adoringly.

"I love you too, sweetie."

* * *

Fudge fell asleep not long later. As he promised, Lightning stayed parked by her bedside with tears in his eyes, smiling at her fondly and running a tyre through her hair. Occasionally, he would lean over to give her a kiss. She sure looked sweet and adorable when she was asleep. Plus, she looked pretty calm, so Lightning was sure that she was having a good dream. He could tell when Fudge was having a bad dream (she'd had quite a few herself lately; she'd always been prone to nightmares ever since she was five and had learned that she had to leave town and that she was abandoned by her mother as a baby). She would look very unsettled whenever she had a nightmare, but tonight, she didn't.

Sadness and guilt overtook Lightning as he watched her sleep. The thought of spending her birthday in the hospital had broken her heart and that had broken his. Now, all he could think about was how none of this would have ever happened if it wasn't for him. Why did he let this happen to her? Why was it that, because of him, one of the most important people in his life was being put through so damn much?

After about an hour of pondering over these thoughts, which did nothing to make him feel better- in fact, it made him cry for about twenty minutes- Lightning decided to call Luigi and Guido to let them know of the phone call that they'd received. There was no answer, just Luigi's voicemail, so he left a message.

"I've told Fudge", he informed them. "As you can imagine, she's pretty upset. I'm sure she can't wait to see you guys tomorrow. Give me a call when you get this message, all right? Or just talk to me when you get home. It's not long now."

McQueen hung up and sighed. Things were quiet for about five seconds before the door burst open loudly.

"Hey, buddy!" Mater shouted.

"Ssh!" Lightning whispered, gesturing to the bed. "Fudge is asleep."

"Oh! Right. Sorry." Mater looked embarrassed when he peered past the stock car at the human in the bed. "Hey, buddy", he whispered.

Lightning chuckled. "Hey, buddy", he responded, also in a whisper.

"So, do you wanna go and do somethin' fun tonight?" the tow truck asked his best friend.

"Sorry, buddy. I can't. I promised Fudge I'd stay here with her. She's been really upset tonight and I don't think she wants to be alone."

"Shoot! Why?"

"She's just found out she's gonna be in the hospital on her birthday."

"Shoot, that sure is dad-gum sad", Mater proclaimed sympathetically.

"Yeah..." Lightning sighed, thinking about just how sad it really was as he stroked the girl's hair. She sighed in her sleep.

"Mater? Do you think you could do me a big favour?"

"Sure. Anything, bud."

"Do you think you could go over to Flo's and tell everyone tomorrow, first thing in the morning while Fudge is still asleep, we're gonna have a meeting right here in the tyre shop."

"I'm on it, buddy!" The tow truck was about to race out of Fudge's bedroom. "Why? You got somethin' big planned?"

Lightning was grinning from headlight to headlight. "Well, Mater, you're just gonna have to wait and see."

 **Ooh! What does Lightning have planned? You'll have to wait and see...**

 **In the meantime, reviews will be greatly appreciated.**


	20. Return to the Hospital

**I just wanna thank you guys so much for your kind reviews! It really means a lot to me and I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! I'm also glad I'm able to make you guys feel stuff like sad that Fudge has to spend her birthday in hospital. And I love how Lightning's looking after her too. It just goes to show how much he's changed since the first movie. He went from seeing Fudge as an annoying baby to seeing her as a little sister and would do anything for her.**

 **Again, I've been feeling kind of down today, so I thought I'd get this chapter out of the way and move on to the happy chapter, so here's the first one for today.**

 **Chapter 20- Return to the Hospital**

The first thing Fudge heard when she woke up from her nap at four-thirty on the afternoon before her return trip to the hospital was a light tap on her bedroom door followed by Flo's quiet voice. "Fudge? Are you awake, sweet pea? I baked you some more cookies."

As the twelve-year-old sat up sleepily and reached for her glasses, the wonderful smell of freshly baked cookies wafted over her. "Thanks, Flo. They look and smell delicious", Fudge remarked truthfully, "but I'm still kinda full from the last batch." Flo had come into Fudge's room about an hour prior with the previous batch of cookies. They'd smelt just as wonderful as these cookies, so Fudge had been unable to resist. They had tasted excellent too.

Flo smiled as she shoved the plate piled high with chocolate chip cookies right under the human girl's nose. "But you should eat them now 'cause they're fresh from the oven."

Fudge couldn't help grinning. "All right..." She took a couple of cookies. "These are really good!" she proclaimed after taking a bite.

The former show car's smile expanded. "I knew you'd like 'em, honey."

Flo was just trying to be nice to her and Fudge knew it. For the last two weeks, everyone seemed to driving on eggshells around Fudge. They all knew how upset she'd been at her change in birthday plans, so they avoided talking about her latest trip to the hospital whenever possible (of course, it wasn't always possible, considering how it was right around the corner). Luigi and Guido had stopped putting up a fight to get Fudge to change or brush her teeth or get cleaned up. Every now and then, she'd be bathed and changed into clean clothes and have deodorant put on her, but she would very rarely let anybody do much else for her. Flo would bring her countless snacks and treats throughout the day. So many, in fact, that Fudge doubted that she'd be able to eat her dinner that night.

Their intentions were good, Fudge knew that. However, she was sick of it. She missed her family being regular nice to her; not the driving-on-eggshells, puppy-dog-looks nice they had been lately. All she wanted was for everything to go back to normal

"Hey, Fudge-O!" Lightning entered Fudge's bedroom and gave her a big kiss on the top of the head. "How's it going?"

"I'm okay..." Fudge murmured softly.

"Are the cookies good?" he asked with a smile.

"Yeah!" She grinned. "But I've told Flo I _really_ don't think I can keep eating like this."

The show car smiled broadly. "Well, I gotta spoil you, sugar. You've been through so much."

"I have!" Fudge agreed, making her pathetic face again as Flo stroked her hair.

"So, if you don't think you can eat 'em, you'll be okay if I have some cookies?" Lightning asked the girl.

She giggled. "Yeah. Go ahead."

He chuckled and took some. "Wow! These _are_ good! Maybe you should go and see Mater next", he commented to Flo. "He'll want some of these cookies."

Flo laughed. "I will."

"Fudgie!" The door opened and in came Luigi.

"Hey, Luigi!" the almost-thirteen-year-old greeted her father.

" _Ciao_!" He came over and kissed her. "Your bags are all packed, no?"

"Yeah they are", Fudge assured him.

"Okay. We are leaving in the morning. And you are being woken up earlier than usual to get ready, remember?"

"Yeah. I remember."

"Poor Fudge!" Lightning chuckled, ruffling her hair playfully. "Waking up is like torture for you, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I can sleep in the trailer!" she insisted. As usual, Mack had agreed to give Luigi, Guido and Fudge a ride to the hospital in the trailer.

Lightning laughed. "I'm sure you will." Already, she looked tired.

* * *

Flo had made macaroni and cheese with cut-up hot dog pieces for dinner again with Belgian chocolate fudge ice cream with coconut for dessert and a cream soda (another obvious effort to try and be nice to her). Then, Fudge was fast asleep, not waking up till she heard Guido's voice.

"Fudge!" he called gently. "(It is time to wake up now, Fudgie. We have a lot of work to do this morning.)"

The girl opened her eyes. Her vision was still blurry, but she could see Guido and Lightning. She wasn't surprised to find Luigi absent; it was very rare that he and Lightning were in the same room. "I feel like I just went to sleep!" she groaned, fumbling for her glasses.

"Fudge, that was about thirteen hours ago!" Lightning laughed. Now that she had her glasses on, she could see that he looked tired again, but Fudge knew better than to bring any attention to that. "Flo left at seven-thirty last night, you were asleep before then and it's eight-thirty now."

"Only eight-thirty!" the human girl groaned. Normally, she would be awake at around eight-thirty, if not, not long afterwards. However, ever since the accident, waking before noon without the possibility of going back to sleep was inhumane torture.

 _No!_ Fudge thought to herself. _No, no, no!_ This was it. This was the start of her hospital trip, which would include her birthday. She never looked forward to going to the hospital, but today, she was dreading it more than ever.

Guido picked her up. "Let's get you ready to go", he told her gently.

So, Guido and Lightning got Fudge dressed with her hair and teeth brushed. It was right in the middle of this task that something occurred to Lightning that got him thinking.

"McQueen?"

He was brought back to Earth by Guido's voice. "Yeah?"

He spoke in Italian and it was up to Fudge, who didn't really feel like talking, to translate for him. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah!" he assured them. "I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Just how much I've changed since I first came to Radiator Springs", Lightning commented. "And how great that all is."

Fudge smiled. "Yeah..."

"Can you believe it's been _seven years_?" Lightning shook his hood in disbelief. Had it _really_ been seven years? He remembered how much younger Fudge was back then- and how much more immature _he_ was.

"In some ways, it feels like more than that, but in some ways, it feels like less too", Fudge voiced her opinion.

"Yeah", Lightning agreed. "When I first met you, I thought you were just an annoying little baby." He remembered how annoyed he'd been with the then-five-year-old's constant chatter, most of it being total nonsense.

"Yeah! And you pushed me into a wall because I called you stupid!" Fudge reminded Lightning.

"Hey!" the stock car cried defensively, putting down the tube of toothpaste. "Excuse me, Fudge! That's not _all_ you did! Why don't you tell Guido what you _actually_ did?"

"What... she do?" Guido wanted to know.

"She called me _really_ stupid!"

All three of them burst out laughing. Nobody in Radiator Springs was mad at Lightning for his rather memorable and not-so-fantastic debut in to the town; after all, it was probably the best thing to ever happen to Radiator Springs _and_ it got those social workers off their case. Still, they all had fun teasing him good-naturedly about the whole thing from time to time. Lightning couldn't say he didn't deserve it, though.

"You know", Lightning got serious once they'd stopped laughing, "when I was a little kid, I always wanted a brother."

"Really?" Fudge wondered where he was going with this.

"Well, I never thought having a sister would be that great", he went on. "Open your mouth", he instructed hurriedly. The human girl obeyed and Lightning stuck her toothbrush in her mouth as he continued. "I didn't think having a sister would be that great, but... but then again, I never thought I'd have a sister like you."

Tears sprang to Fudge's eyes and a big smile spread across her face. She was truly touched by his words. "Really?"

"Yeah." He ruffled her hair playfully. "I'm always telling you I got the best little sister a guy could ask for."

She gave him the biggest smile she could, leaning over as much as possible to plant a kiss on Lightning's hood. "I love you."

He gave her a kiss. "I love you too, sweetie."

"(And _I_ love you, Fudge!)" Guido kissed her as well.

Fudge beamed. "(I love you too, Guido!)" She gave him a kiss too.

"All right", Lightning announced. "Time to go."

"No!" Fudge cried. "I wanna stay here!"

"I know you do", McQueen sympathised, kissing her. "Just think. The sooner you get this surgery done, the sooner your life will go back to normal. I thought that was what you wanted."

"It _was_ ", the almost-thirteen-year-old agreed sullenly . "Now, I just wish none of this ever happened. I wish things were already normal! Nothing good has happened to me all year!"

The second she said all of that, she caught a glimpse of Lightning, who had tears of shame in his eyes. The second Fudge saw _that_ , she wished that she could take it all back.

"I'm sorry!" she apologised guiltily. "I just meant... I mean, I never should've-"

"It's all right, Fudge", Lightning assured her hurriedly.

"No, it's not! I'm really sorry, Lightning!" she offered again. "I was just-"

"Sweetie, it's okay!" he insisted, placing a tyre on her knee. "You don't have to apologise. I know this year's been tough on you." He sighed. "Come on. We better get going. You still need deodorant..."

He was so nice about it, but Fudge still felt guilty.

* * *

"Fudge! There you are!" Luigi exclaimed. "You are ready to go, my angel!"

" _Physically_ ", Fudge mumbled.

"I know this is hard for you", Luigi sympathised, kissing her. "It is hard for us too, but it will get better, Fudgie!"

"You don't know how much I want to believe that!" Fudge mumbled miserably.

Luigi just kissed her and announced, "It is time to go."

"Do we have to go right now or do we have some time?" the human girl wanted to know.

"We have a little bit of time, but not much", Luigi reported. "Why? What do you want?"

"I just wanna look at the town before we go."

"Okay." Luigi glanced up at the clock. "I think we have about five minutes. Then we are going, okay?"

"Okay", Fudge agreed reluctantly as Guido pushed her outside.

Fudge was totally quiet for the next five minutes as she stared longingly at her hometown in the pouring rain. She took in the courthouse and the Stanley statue. She turned the other way and glanced at Flo's (where most of the townsfolk were gathered), Ramone's, the curio shop, Sarge's, Fillmore's and the Cozy Cone. This would be the first time she ever had to spend her entire birthday anywhere but Radiator Springs (a couple of times, she'd gone to an amusement park on her birthday, but she would still be in town for breakfast and dinner) and she wasn't looking forward to it. She just hoped two things. The first was that this meant that her life would start to go back to normal because of this surgery and many other steps after it. The second was that she still managed to have at least _some_ fun on the big day. She doubted it if she was still recovering from surgery.

"Fudgie?" Luigi spoke up once five minutes had passed. "It is time to go. Mack is waiting for us." He gestured to the big truck parked by Flo's.

"Okay", she agreed reluctantly.

"All right, Fudge-O." Lightning came forward and kissed her. "I'll be at the hospital soon, all right? You go there with Luigi and Guido first, but I'll come and see you soon."

"I know you will. I love you."

He smiled and gave her yet another kiss. "Love you too, Fudge-O."

"Okay!" Luigi shouted loudly, pushing Fudge away from Lightning and towards Mack over by Flo's. "Time to go!"

"See you soon!" Fudge called to the stock car.

"See ya!" he called back.

"I _really_ hope this isn't too much trouble for you, Mack", Fudge greeted the truck apologetically as Luigi loaded her into the trailer. With everything that had been going on lately, she was worried about being a burden to everyone in town.

"Eh, not at all", he assured her. "I'm happy to do this. Besides, I'm not working right now. I need something to do and I need a break from the guys at the truck stop now and then." Since Lightning wasn't working, that meant that Mack wasn't working either (obviously!).

The rest of the townsfolk gathered around the trailer, calling out their final words.

"See ya, Fudge!"

"We love you!"

"We'll come and see you soon!"

It was weird how her family always crowded around and farewelled her, making a big deal out of it every single time she went to the hospital. They were going to see her in a couple of hours. Still, Fudge felt it was nice to know she'd be missed around the town. She missed the town too, even with everyone coming to see her every day. Today, more than usual. She felt her heart break when the trailer door closed.

* * *

As usual, Fudge slept all the way to the hospital. She didn't wake up until she heard Luigi whispering her name. Normally, he woke her up when they had arrived at the hospital, but were still in the trailer. This time, though, she was being led down a bright hallway in the hospital.

"You are going to your room now", Luigi informed her.

"What doctor's going to see me?" Fudge wanted to know.

"Dr. Wilson, I think", Luigi responded.

"Great!" Fudge mumbled sarcastically.

"Here we are!" Luigi announced trying to sound cheerful.

As Fudge got settled into her hospital room, she thought, _Here we go again!_ Her surgery was going to be the next day. For now, she was stuck in bed, bored out of her mind. Again. Or rather, still.

* * *

Fudge was screaming and crying as she was wheeled down towards the operating theatre.

"I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go!" she wept.

"It is going to be okay, angel!" Luigi assured her gently. "It is going to be okay."

" **NONONONONONO!** " she screamed.

"Sssh!" Luigi soothed her gently.

"Come on!" the nurse added. "Let's have none of that."

"Why do you have to do this every time?" another nurse added.

"I don't wanna go!" Fudge repeated as she entered the operating theatre.

A few hours later, the nearly-thirteen-year-old awoke, feeling the worst she'd ever felt. Her head was killing her, she was insanely sick to her stomach, her knees felt like they were on fire _and_ being stabbed at the same time. The pain and sickness had definitely been worse, but place it on top of the emotional pain she was feeling and she felt like she was breaking through rock bottom and hitting something below rock bottom.

"You will feel better soon", Luigi assured her gently.

"I'm sick of people saying that!" she groaned. "I haven't been feeling better all year."

* * *

It took Fudge a long time to recover from her knee surgery. It didn't help that she was in such a terrible mood.

"I hate this!" Fudge groaned as she lay in bed for the last time on the night before her birthday. "It's really hard!"

"I know!" Luigi gave her a kiss. "I know. It is hard to see you in so much pain. But it is going to get better."

"I know... I just... I don't know..." Fudge didn't even know what to say anymore. Everyone knew that she was sick of it, but there was nothing that she or anybody else could do about it. Nothing was going to change what was going on.

Right before she could go into another pit of depression, Fudge heard the door open and the rest of her family calling out things like, "Hey, Fudge-O!" and "Hey, sweetie!" Immediately, a smile spread across her face.

"Hi!" she greeted them excitedly.

"How's it going?" they all wanted to know.

"It sucks!"

"Don't say that!" Lightning gave her a sympathetic rub on the leg. "It's still early days!"

"Yeah, well, I'm sick of early days!" she groaned. "I just want to get better!"

"Come on, soldier!" Sarge tried to comfort her. "You've come so far already and we're all so proud of you. Just keep going! You were so positive before!"

"Yeah, that was your New Year's resolution, man!" Fillmore reminded her. "What happened to all of your good vibes?"

"My entire life went to hell!" Fudge shouted, beginning to cry.

"Please don't get upset, sweetie!" Sally took her hand. "Tomorrow's a very special day."

Fudge didn't look convinced.

Lightning sighed after about twenty minutes of trying to comfort Fudge to no avail. "I guess we should let you get some sleep now, huh?"

"Yeah, I... I'm really tired." She wiped away some tears that were flowing down her cheeks.

"All right..." Everyone crowded around to kiss the girl and tell her that they loved her before slipping out of the room. In under a minute, it was just Fudge, Luigi and Guido left.

"We should go now too, Fudgie", Luigi announced, glancing up at the clock. "We will be back first thing in the morning, okay?" he went on, to which Fudge mumbled an okay.

Guido came forward and gave her a kiss. "(I love you so much!)"

"And so do I!" Luigi added, also kissing her.

"I love you both too!" Fudge declared.

"We will see you tomorrow", Luigi repeated as he reversed and started to leave. Guido followed him.

"Okay... See you tomorrow."

Fudge tried to sound cheerful, but she couldn't pull it off. And when her two fathers left, the poor girl succumbed to her grief and cried herself to sleep.


	21. The Birthday Bonanza

**In case you didn't notice, there is a chapter before this one.**

 **So, here we are at Fudge's awesome birthday! I'm pretty excited about this chapter and I hope you guys are too!**

 **Chapter 21- The Birthday Bonanza**

When she woke up, the first thing Fudge heard was several voices singing "Happy Birthday." She opened her eyes to find her entire family and a couple of doctors and nurses flooding in. They were all loaded with presents, cards and balloons. She broke out into a huge grin.

"Hi, guys!" she greeted them.

"Happy birthday, Fudge!" they all cried out in unison.

"Thanks!"

"A teenager!" Ramone exclaimed.

"I know..." Fudge sounded like she simply couldn't believe it.

"It feels like it was only yesterday that I held you for the first time", Luigi commented, also in disbelief. "Now, I have a teenage daughter!"

"Yeah, you're makin' us all feel old, soldier!" Sarge chimed in.

"Just promise us you won't become a rebellious teenager, kiddo!" Sheriff laughed.

"I'll try!" Fudge assured him, laughing along with everyone else.

That was when Fudge decided that she had a choice. She could make herself miserable all day and bring everyone else down with her. Or she could make herself happy. After all, her family were all trying to do a nice thing for her, so she might as well make the most of it. She chose to go for the latter. It was much better- and fairer- for everyone. Not only that, but Fudge promised herself that she wasn't going to cry at all today. This was her birthday. She was going to try and enjoy it, no matter what.

"So, what do you say we get this party started?!" Lightning asked with a huge grin.

"All right!" Fudge cheered.

"Lizzie!" Lightning cried. "You know what to do!"

Fudge expected the Model T to get confused, but she didn't. Without any hesitation, Lizzie moved over to the radio and flipped it on.

"Hey! C'mon, Fudge! Open your presents, open your presents!" Mater hollered gleefully, bouncing up and down a little.

"Yeah, we got you all of these!" Lightning brought forward several of the presents.

"Oh, wow!" Fudge exclaimed. She looked around at all the presents.

"This one!" Lightning thrust a small box at her.

"It's from _you_!" the now-thirteen-year-old noted as she read the label, laughing.

Everyone laughed.

"Yeah, well, when you open it, you'll see why I wanted you to open that one first."

Fudge grinned and removed the ribbon. When she opened the box, she found a beautiful-looking silver necklace with a sparkly star at the front.

"Now, I know you don't like jewellery", Lightning began, fastening it to her, "but I had a very special reason for getting you this necklace. _This_ ", he gestured to the star, "is a wishing star. You wear this and all your dreams'll come true."

It was so corny that Fudge didn't know how anybody else stopped themselves from laughing. Even so, she _really_ did appreciate it. She needed all the luck and wishes and whatnot she could get.

" _Plus_ ", he went on, "don't you think it makes you look beautiful?"

She blushed. "Thanks, Lightning. It's really nice."

"You sure it's not corny?"

"Well, yeah", she admitted, making everyone laugh, "but I still really like it."

"I'm glad you do." He gave her a kiss.

"Open this one next!" Mater cried, hurling another present at the girl.

"And _this_ one's from you!"

More laughter came from the group.

When Fudge opened up all of her presents, she found she'd received quite a haul. She got lots of books and toys and DVDs and clothes and lots of other things she could still use in her current condition. Even a new iPod! Lightning also got her a very familiar penguin, sporting a jacket, hat and goggles.

"It's Hugsy!" Fudge squealed. It was the exact same stuffed penguin Joey from _Friends_ had!

"Yeah, it is!" Lightning grinned.

"Maybe you'll get the more fun stuff for Christmas", Lightning suggested with a smile once Fudge had finished opening her presents. "We're hoping you'll be better by then."

"Me too..." Fudge studied her pile of presents. "These are all really cool! And I got Hugsy!" She hugged the penguin.

Lightning smiled proudly. "I'm glad you like it."

"And Guido and I have a wonderful idea for a Christmas present for you once you are better", Luigi added. "We would have given you it now, but we think it should wait."

"Well, I hate to break up the party", a doctor piped up, "but it's time for Fudge to rest now."

"Okay. We'll be back soon", the RS gang promised her, giving her kisses. "We love you, Fudge! We'll have fun later, all right?"

As Fudge lay back in her bed, she couldn't help smiling. Her morning had lifted her spirits up quite a lot.

* * *

Fudge lay in bed, resting and napped a little. Then she got to visit the children's room where she and the rest of her family got to hang out with all the other kids who were in hospital. Everyone wished her a happy birthday. Then they played a whole bunch of games, which made her laugh and she really had fun.

Hours later, when Fudge was awake from another nap and she was reading one of the new books she'd received that day she heard the door open.

"Hey, honey!" Flo called out.

"Hi, guys!" she greeted them excitedly.

"How's it going, man?" Fillmore wanted to know.

"Great!" she replied, grinning. "What's up?"

"We ain't done celebratin' your birthday!" Ramone informed her.

"We're not?!"

"Nope!" Lightning laughed.

That was when the thirteen-year-old noticed Guido and Lightning coming in, each weighed down by a huge box and Flo had a much smaller box. "So, what are we gonna do now?" she wondered.

"Now, I'm sorry- we're _all_ sorry- you have to spend your birthday here", Lightning began. He was sorry in more ways than one. "We're gonna try and have some fun here, but we got something fun planned when you get out of the hospital. So..." He put his box down and began searching through it. Finally, he unearthed a map of the world. "Since we're all here and we wanna have some fun when you get out of this place and, you know, this whole thing has made me realise life is short, we're gonna take a little trip!"

" _Really_?!" Fudge sounded ecstatic. "Where are we going?!"

"That", Lightning explained, "is gonna be entirely up to fate. We're gonna have you close your eyes, point to a random place and wherever you point to, we're all gonna go."

"Sounds fun!" the birthday girl proclaimed sincerely. "But chances are, we'll be going to the middle of the ocean!"

Lightning laughed. "Then we'll either do it again or go wherever's closest."

"All right!" Fudge was beginning to get _really_ excited.

"You ready?"

"Yeah!"

"All right..." Lightning brought forward the map.

"Oh, this is exciting!" Fudge closed her eyes while Lightning moved the map around and she wiggled her finger.

"Tell me when to stop!" Lightning told her.

" _Stop_!" she cried after a couple of seconds.

"All right. Are you sure?"

" _Yes_!" she responded. "Where are we going?!"

Luigi beamed. "We will let you see for yourself!"

The human girl opened her eyes to find her finger resting somewhere in the Caribbean sea.

"No way!" she exclaimed.

"Yes way!" Lightning flashed her a huge grin.

"We're going to the Caribbean!" several of the others cheered.

"Awesome!" It sounded a hell of a lot more appealing than the hospital. Well, _anywhere_ did at that point.

"All right. Well, we'll get onto that as soon as possible", Lightning promised Fudge.

"Awesome!" she repeated.

"But for today", the stock car went on, "we still got some fun planned." He reached into the box and pulled out another wrapped present. "In here... is something... I think you will like."

"Open it, open it!" Mater cried.

The birthday girl grinned and started pulling apart the wrapping paper to reveal... a karaoke machine!

"Oh! This is _cool_!" It looked like a _lot_ of fun. When she, Lightning, Mater, Luigi, Guido, Sarge and Fillmore visited Japan for the World Grand Prix, she insisted that they tried karaoke. The others hadn't particularly been as enthusiastic as she was, but they agreed nonetheless and they'd had a blast. Well, _she_ had a blast, anyway.

"We thought you'd like that. It's got a mix of old and new songs there, all kinds of genres", Lightning informed her. "Something for everyone. _And_ we're gonna try this out now!"

"How?" Fudge wondered. The more she recovered, the more relaxed the rules for her in the hospital became. Still, she highly doubted that the hospital would let her use a frickin' _karaoke machine_ ; that would disturb the other patients.

"We didn't say _here_ ", Sally pointed out. "The doctors said we could take you out just for a little while. We just have to bring you back in a couple of hours."

"Yeah!" Lightning nodded. "Now, we're just gonna go and make sure they're ready for us."

"They?" Fudge repeated. "Who's they?"

"Nobody", the stock car replied hurriedly.

"We'll see you soon", the others promised her about to drive off.

"Why don't you take another nap, sweetie?" Sally suggested. "We'll call Luigi when we're ready for you."

"Okay..." Every word of that sounded perfect to Fudge.

* * *

So, that was what Fudge did. Although, the nap part was so wonderful that she was disappointed when Luigi woke her up.

"Are you okay?" Luigi quizzed her when she opened her eyes.

"Yeah. I just had a really funny dream."

"What dream?"

"I got a pet chicken and I wanted to come up with a pun-ny name for it, so guess what I called it!"

"What?"

"Cal Feathers!"

Luigi and Guido laughed. **(AN: That was an actual dream I had! XD)**

"Come on, angel!" Luigi announced, placing his daughter in her wheelchair. "We are going out!"

"Going where?" she wondered.

The Fiat beamed. "You will have to wait and see!" he answered, giving her a big kiss. However, the fact that Luigi didn't sound entirely sure himself failed to escape his daughter's attention.

"Can Hugsy come?" Fudge requested, holding up her penguin.

Luigi and Guido smiled. That wasn't something a typical thirteen-year-old would ask, but Fudge wasn't a typical thirteen-year-old. She was _Fudge_ , their _daughter_.

"Of course. Now, let's get you ready."

So, Guido and Luigi changed Fudge into a new dress she'd received for her birthday. It was a dark green silk knee-length dress with thick straps going over the shoulders. She wore it with her Ugg boots, but that was okay.

"Mack is waiting for us outside!"

"Okay..." she yawned with a smile.

"Hi, Mack!" Fudge greeted the big truck cheerily.

"Hey, Fudge! Happy birthday! Thirteen years old! It's a big deal!"

"Thanks!" The human girl felt her face go red.

"Well, we better hit the road! Boss is waitin' for us!"

"Then let's go!" Fudge shouted.

"Do you know where we are going?" Luigi quizzed Mack and he didn't just sound like he wanted to confirm this with Mack. Fudge gave her father an odd look, which went unnoticed by everyone, but then she shrugged.

"Yep. Lightning's shown me the way a couple of times. Just leave it all to me."

Luigi nodded gratefully as the trio got in the trailer. " _Grazie_."

* * *

As excited as she was, Fudge couldn't prevent herself from sleeping all the way to... she didn't know where. When she heard Luigi whisper, "Come on, Fudgie. It is time to wake up now. We are here", she opened her eyes to find nothing but black.

"Hey... Why can't I see anything?" she questioned, puzzled.

Luigi laughed as he scooped Fudge up once again and placed her in the wheelchair. "Guido put a blindfold on you while you were asleep. We have a very big surprise for you."

"Okay..." The human girl heard the trailer door open and felt herself being pushed down the ramp and around an unknown location. She felt warm sunlight wash over her and she knew that she was outside. But _where_?

The first thing Fudge heard out of the trailer was Lightning's voice (and it sounded like it was coming through a microphone?), crying out, "Here she comes, here she comes!"

For half a second, Fudge heard people buzzing. Then, all was silent. She wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but she felt excited.

"Hey, Fudge-O!" Lightning's warm voice was now closer and not coming from a microphone. "I'm glad you're here! You ready?"

"Uh... For what?"

" _This_!" He removed the blindfold.

As soon as the blindfold was off, her eyes widened. She was outside in the sunshine and beautiful blue sky and she was on this big al fresco stage with about a hundred people gathered around. She recognised several faces at the front of the crowd. There was Sally, Mater, Sarge, Fillmore, Flo, Ramone, Sheriff, Red and Lizzie, of course. Then there was Otis, Bobby Swift, Brick Yardley, the Weathers family, Tex Dinoco, Rusty, Dusty, Mack, Jeff Gorvette, Finn, Holley, RJ and Sammy. Even Uncle and Mama Topolino had come all the way from Italy. _Then_ there were dozens of people Fudge had never seen in her entire life. There were even a couple of members of the press she recognised accompanied by forklifts and humans operating cameras while just about everyone else filmed on their phones.

Every single person was wearing a party hat and there were tons of balloons (including shiny helium balloons in the shape of the number 13 and spelling out Fudge's name), happy birthday banners, one reading: FUDGE ROSSI-TOPOLINO BIRTHDAY BONANZA and party blowers everywhere. On top of that, before Fudge could take it all in, there was a loud bang! From either side of the stage, two glitter cannons had gone off, showering Fudge in confetti. Some of the confetti was in the shape of the number 13 as well.

"Happy birthday, Fudge!" the entire crowd yelled in unison.

"Oh, wow!" she exclaimed, shaking her head in amazement.

"Wow indeed!" Lightning laughed, speaking into his microphone, giving Fudge another one. "All these people are here to see you, Fudge-O! Can you believe it?"

"No..." She really couldn't.

"Yeah. Me neither."

"But you are the one who organised all of this", Luigi reminded him expressionlessly. "You started the social media movement to get people here."

"I _know_ I did", he replied, not bothering to hide his annoyance. He handed Luigi a third microphone. "I just never thought it would get this big."

Luigi glared, but said nothing.

Lightning spoke in the microphone yet again. "Now, Fudge-O, you can see we're all wearing party hats. And we got a _very_ special hat for you!" He produced a shiny gold cardboard crown decorated with colourful sequins and even a couple of fake glittery gems.

"I love it!" the birthday girl proclaimed as it was placed on her head.

"The Birthday Queen!" Mater exclaimed, rushing up onto the stage followed by the rest of the RS gang. He didn't have a microphone, but everyone heard him nonetheless.

"And we have something else for you to put on!" Luigi announced. He presented Fudge with a badge. It was a ribbon of dark pink silk with the words BIRTHDAY GIRL in the middle.

"Awesome!" Fudge smiled as Luigi fastened it to her dress. With her new dress, crown, badge and star necklace, she _did_ look _very_ special.

"Ready, everyone?!" Lightning shouted into the microphone. "One, two, three!"

With those words, the entire crowd started to sing, "Happy Birthday" to Fudge. When they were finished, Fudge didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So, she did both. She didn't care about her promise to herself. These were tears of joy. It was different.

"What is you cryin' fer?" Mater wondered, both concerned and confused.

"Because I'm _happy_!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah?" Lightning ruffled her hair affectionately. "Well, I'm glad."

"Thank you so much!" she managed to choke out, beaming at her race car brother with happy tears streaming down her face. "I love you!"

"I love you too, sweetie." He gave her a kiss. Then he looked back to his best friend. "Now, Mater, would you like to present Fudge with the Birthday Tree?"

"Birthday Tree?" Fudge repeated, curious, excited and confused all rolled into one.

"Yeah!" Mater cried with a huge grin from mirror to mirror.

He brought forward a relatively small tree in a plant pot. Planted into the dirt were several lollipops surrounded by several bits of loose change. Behind _those_ and in front of the tree was a photo frame, which held four small photos of Fudge. One was of Luigi and Guido holding her the day she was born; another one was her on her sixth birthday (the first one Lightning spent with her), blowing out the six candles on a "yummy-yummy" strawberry cheesecake; a third showed the girl on her _twelfth_ birthday the year before, blowing out the candles on _another_ cheesecake. The fourth and final photo was the most recent. It was of Fudge at Flo's on the day she came home from the hospital.

After studying the tree for a couple of seconds, Fudge noticed something. Attached to the branches were little white labels made from card that were hanging on by pieces of string. On the labels, people had written messages in colourful markers and glittery gel pens. Most of them said things like, "Happy birthday, Fudge!", or, "I'm a huge fan!", or, "All the best." A handful even said, "We love you, Fudge!"

"It's like a Christmas tree, but with birthday messages instead of ornaments!" Fudge laughed.

Lightning smiled. "Exactly."

"This is really cool!" she proclaimed, grinning.

"Yeah? You like it?" Sally asked.

"I love it!" Fudge nodded. She looked around at the crowd. "Thanks, guys!" And just as she had done during her knighting ceremony in London two years ago, she could've sworn that she saw Doc there too. She imagined that he was wearing a party hat and smiling just like everyone else. It was a very comforting thought.

"And there are some people who wished they could be here", Lightning went on, "but unfortunately, they can't. So..."

Lightning and the others had set up a projector and a video started up. A whole bunch of Lightning's international racing buddies, Ethan and his family in Australia and Fudge's relatives in Italy all wished her a happy birthday. Even her friends and family who were there chimed in in the video. Fudge felt so touched.

* * *

"Now, what do you say we fire up this karaoke machine, Fudge?!" Ramone suggested with a wicked grin.

"All right!" she cheered.

"Who here wants to hear Fudge sing?!" Lightning hollered.

The crowd went wild.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay singing in front of all these people?" Sarge asked.

"It's just a little bit of fun!" Fudge assured him. Truthfully, she _was_ afraid (she'd always been fine with public speaking, but she'd never _sang_ in front of hundreds of people, especially when just about all of them were filming and a dozen or so were members of the press), but she still wanted to give it a shot.

"Besides", Lightning added, laughing, "karaoke isn't about being good. It's about having fun being bad."

"Yeah!" Fudge laughed.

But when the karaoke machine started up, it was, "I'm _really_ gonna do this?"

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to", Lightning told her.

"No, I _do_!" she assured him. "I'm just a little nervous."

"Well, remember what I told you. It's about having fun being bad. Besides", the race car went on with a grin, "once _I_ get up there and sing, I'm sure you won't sound bad at all."

Fudge giggled. " _You're_ gonna sing?"

"Yeah! I just gotta be careful of my surroundings first because I know everyone's gonna throw whatever they can find at me!"

Fudge laughed. The mental image of that happening was pretty funny.

"We're ready, Fudge!" Ramone called out.

She grinned. "Let's do this!"

"All right, Fudge! Pick a song!" Lightning instructed.

After browsing through the selection, Fudge pressed a button, which made music start up. It was the intro to "Smile" by Uncle Kracker. "I wanna dedicate this song to my family, who have helped me through this tough time."

Fudge started to sing. She wasn't fantastic, but she definitely wasn't terrible either. The RS gang melted a little when they heard the lyrics, knowing that Fudge had dedicated this to them. She was such a sweet kid.

When the song came to an end, the crowd erupted into cheers once more. The birthday girl couldn't stop giggling and she knew for a fact that she was blushing.

"Who's next?!" she questioned, laughing.

Lightning went next. He performed two songs- one of his favourite songs, "Real Gone" by Sheryl Crow and "Under the Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (he _really_ had fun with that one!)- and, despite what he said, nobody threw anything at him. In fact, they cheered for him as much as they'd cheered for Fudge.

"Way to go, buddy!" Mater hollered.

Fudge also took great delight in performing "All Star" by Smash Mouth, "Hey Ya" by Outkast and "We R Who We R" by Ke$ha. A bunch of the others took turns singing a variety of different songs too, which made Fudge boo them teasingly and everyone would laugh and pretend to get insulted.

"She's booin' you!" Rusty informed his brother when they got up on stage to sing.

"No! She's booin' _you_!" Dusty fired back.

She booed the loudest when Fillmore got up there to sing some Hendrix songs.

"Respect the classics, man!" Fillmore cried, sounding highly insulted.

Sarge nodded and smiled proudly. "You know, I had you trained when you were a toddler, soldier", the Jeep informed Fudge, looking _very_ amused. The hippie van next to him did not.

"What do you mean?" Fudge wondered.

"Every time the hippie played that disrespectful junk, you'd chase him, yelling, 'No! No, Fillmore!' I taught you to do that!"

The others chuckled at the memory; or, in Sally and Lightning's case, the mental image since they hadn't lived in Radiator Springs back then.

"No!" Fudge yelled, cracking everyone up. "No, Fillmore!"

"I remember that!" Luigi proclaimed, laughing. "The only problem was that she yelled at him even when he was not playing Hendrix!" He cuddled Fudge and kissed her. "Whenever we were all over at Flo's, you would just start chasing him around, yelling, 'No! No, Fillmore!'"

The group's laughter continued.

"This is gon' be a piece o' cake fer me!" Mater declared as his song started up. He grinned at Fudge and Lightning. "Ya know, I used to be a rock star!"

"You may have mentioned it!" Lightning responded.

"Yeah! Now, let's see the _real_ Heavy Metal Mater!" Fudge added.

The now-thirteen-year-old didn't think she'd ever laughed so hard in her life. Lightning couldn't help but smile proudly as he watched her laugh. After seeing how unwell, tired and/or upset she was all the time, it was wonderful to see her laughing and not worrying about her problems. That was also one of the reasons why he had loved watching _Friends_ with her; she had laughed a _lot_ , especially when Joey had tried to save his sandwich from what he thought was a bullet.

At one point, Sammy came up and sang "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus. When she was finished, she gave Fudge a quick hug and whispered, "Happy birthday, Sis!" Then she slipped a present into Fudge's hand, making the birthday girl smile.

* * *

Just as Fudge was finishing her last song, "So Good" by B.O.B, which she also dedicated to her family, saying that _she_ had never had it so good, Lightning returned to the mike. "All right! I think that's enough karaoke for now! We still have more guests coming and I've just been informed they're only a couple minutes away!"

"Who?" Fudge wondered.

Lightning grinned devilishly. "You'll see..."

Sure enough, about two minutes later, a beep came from Lightning's phone, informing him that he had a text message. He stopped to read it before grinning at Fudge and using the microphone to speak to her. "Hey, Fudge-O! You hungry?"

She shrugged. "I can eat. Why?"

"Hit it!" the stock car yelled.

Fudge didn't know who he was talking to, but the song, "What a Feeling" by Irene Cara started up. Seemingly from nowhere, two blonde human guys in jeans, deep red polo shirts and sneakers appeared, dancing. They were followed by four forklifts. One was dark blue and wore glasses, a black one also wore glasses, there was a red one and the sole female was yellow. They, too, were dancing. All six of them were carrying several boxes of pizza! Everyone began laughing, clapping, cheering and honking their horns. Nobody was louder than Fudge herself.

"All right, everybody!" Lightning McQueen shouted. "Give it up for Billy, Nick, Lyle, Stuart, Yo-Yo and Neha of Pizza Planet!"

The crowd went wild. Especially when the pizza boxes were being handed out and Billy and Nick, the two humans, started flinging slices of pizza into the crowd. Everyone leapt up and trampled on one another to try and catch them. Pretty soon, pepperoni, anchovies, pineapple, sausage and Chrysler knew what else was flying in all directions. Several slices even hit some people in the face! Fudge just laughed hysterically the whole time. She caught Lightning's eye at one point and he just gave her a warm smile, which she did _not_ hesitate to return.

All of a sudden, Nick appeared at the bottom of the stage by Fudge's feet, stretching out his final box of pizza towards her, grinning like a maniac. "Here you go, Fudge! Extra pineapple! Just the way you like it!"

Tentatively, Fudge took the box. "Thanks..." She shot Lightning a horrified look and he cracked up laughing. The human girl breathed a sigh of relief when she opened the box to find a plain cheese pizza with stuffed crust.

"No tip for you, Nick!" Lightning called out, still laughing. "You forgot the pineapple on Fudge's pizza!"

Nick just grinned and danced off with the rest of the pizza delivery team.

Fudge swatted Lightning's door playfully. "Don't even joke about that! Pineapple does _not_ go on pizza!"

"Just eat your pizza, Fudge-O!"

"Well, I'm not gonna say no to _that_!" she giggled, picking up a slice.

Lightning chuckled softly. "Hey, you know what's weird about pizza?"

"How Dodge Ram delicious it is?"

"Well, yeah", he agreed, "but also, it's a circle, cut into triangles and served in a square box." He knew _Fudge_ was the one who had pointed that out to him, but that was on the day of the accident, which she didn't remember.

So, she mulled over that for a second. "Huh. That _is_ weird."

* * *

The pizzas were devoured in no time. Everyone except Fillmore was eating; even Sarge, who normally didn't like pizza was helping himself to a couple of slices. Fudge would also feed Hugsy, making everyone smile and prompting those closest to her to plant kisses on her forehead. It was just as the last slices were being polished off that Lightning had another suggestion.

"All right! Time for a group photo!"

A white forklift with a camera on a tripod appeared on the stage, ready for action.

"All right. Not a selfie on a phone", Lightning commented. "A _nice_ photo. On a good, old-fashioned digital camera."

Fudge grinned. "Sounds good to me!"

Immediately, the photographer began positioning people. The RS gang were at the front with Fudge, Lightning, Luigi and Guido front and centre (though Luigi made a point to stay as far away from Lightning as possible). The pizza guys were pretty close to the front as well, posed holding out pizza boxes- even though they were all empty- along with Finn, Holley, Sammy, RJ, Uncle and Mama Topolino and Lightning's racing buddies and behind _them_ was a wild crowd.

"Everybody, smile!" the photographer sang.

"Say, 'Cheese!'" Sally added.

"Pizza!" Billy finished.

"Yeah! Everyone, say, 'Cheese pizza!'" Yo-Yo, the red forklift, laughed.

"Brought to you by Pizza Planet!" the blue forklift, Lyle, chimed in.

"Cheese pizza!" the entire group shouted as the camera clicked.

The photographer studied the photo. "Perfect! Thank you, everyone!"

* * *

It was really starting to get dark by then and the party was winding down a little bit, so Lightning decided to take Fudge down into the crowd to start greeting the fans and partygoers she hadn't had a chance to talk to yet. With most of the fans, they greeted them, asked their name, thanked them for coming and got a photo. This made a lot of them very happy.

"I got your letter!" a shiny yellow car exclaimed, so excited that she could barely speak! She thrust a letter at Fudge and Lightning, which turned out to be one of the thank-you letters that they sent out to people who sent cards and presents to Fudge.

"You sent me something?" Fudge asked in amazement. "Thank you so much! I really appreciated all the presents I got. What was your name again?"

"Cruz!" she answered breathlessly. "Cruz Ramirez! I'm such a big fan of both of you! Mr. McQueen, you're the best racer ever! And Fudge, you're just so cool and funny and cute! You know, I wanna be a racer too!"

Lightning smiled. "Well, thank you, Cruz!" he and Fudge chorused. "Thanks for coming out. We really appreciate it."

Cruz couldn't stop giggling, especially while she had her photo taken with Fudge and Lightning.

"Hey!" Fudge cried abruptly as she and her brother weaved through the crowd.

"What?"

She pointed to some helium balloons that kept spinning around and, therefore, were facing backwards. "Those balloons say I'm thirty-one!"

Lightning chuckled. "Well, that won't be for another eighteen years!"

"That's fast math!" Fudge quoted _Friends_ , giggling. "We could use you in Tulsa!"

Abruptly and out of nowhere, the two of them found themselves pressed in by the press. Cameras flashed all around them and microphones were being shoved in their faces.

"Fudge! Can we get a few words?!" one of them, a light purple Porsche from the RSN named Amy Winslow, asked.

"Sure", Fudge agreed, giggling a little nervously. She was caught quite off guard, but she'd been working with the cameras and the press and being interviewed since she was six years old. She could handle it.

"What do you make of today's events?!" a navy blue pickup truck wanted to know.

"It's just so unbelievable!" She shook her head in astonishment. "I was not expecting this _at_ _all_! It's... It's just been _awesome_!"

"A day you won't forget?" Amy questioned.

"Absolutely not! I am _never_ going to forget this!"

After asking Fudge a couple more questions, the press shifted their attention to Lightning.

"McQueen, we spoke to you earlier", an old human man in a suit began, "but do you have any comments after seeing Fudge's reaction? Did today go how you were expecting it?"

"Definitely!" he confirmed with a big grin. "My goal here was to make Fudge happy and I think it worked! We've _all_ had a lot of fun today- I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my _life_ \- but nothing here has made me happier than seeing Fudge so happy because Chrysler knows she's deserved it after everything she's been through."

Fudge beamed.

"It looks like this was a lot of work to organise and set up", a reporter commented, looking around.

McQueen nodded. "Yeah, it was, but it was all worth it. And I'd like to thank the awesome guys from Pizza Planet for helping out." He noticed them coming through, so he called out, "Thanks, guys!"

"Yeah! The pizza was _delish_!" Fudge informed them.

"Hey, no problem!" Lyle assured him.

"It was our pleasure!" the yellow female forklift, Neha, added.

"Glad we could help!" Nick chimed in.

Stuart, the black forklift's contribution was, "Best day of work ever!"

Everyone laughed.

"Okay!" Luigi called out as he approached the group with Guido and the two of them tried ushering the press away from their daughter. They often acted as part of the security team for Lightning, making sure that the press didn't step out of line when they arrived at races. "That is enough! No more questions for Fudgie! She is done now!"

"Who are you?" Amy wondered.

"We are Fudge's parents!" Luigi responded sternly.

"Really?" A reporter shoved a microphone into Luigi and Guido's faces. "And do you have any comments on how today has gone?"

Surprisingly, Luigi and Guido agreed to talk to the press. Most likely to keep them away from Fudge, though. As Lightning and Fudge left, the latter told the former about her Cal Feathers dream, making him laugh.

* * *

After about an hour, Fudge's eyes were starting to droop and it was getting late.

"All right!" Lightning got back on the microphone. "I think it's time we got Fudge back to the hospital. I'd like to thank you all for coming and once again, I'd like to thank the awesome guys at Pizza Planet for helping out today!"

The crowd cheered.

"Happy birthday, Fudge!" he finished up.

"Happy birthday, Fudge!" everyone shouted, making the girl beam.

"All right, let's go." The race car began pushing the human girl through the crowd, which had created a guard of honour for her as she came through.

"Thank you so much!" Fudge leaned over and nuzzled Lightning in the middle of the guard of honour.

"You had fun, Fudge?"

"Yeah! This has been the best day I've had in a long time. Thank you!"

He shrugged modestly. "It's no big deal."

"It is to me!" she insisted.

"Well, I'm glad you had fun."

"You know I love you, right?" Fudge asked.

"Yeah. And you know I love you too, right?"

Fudge smiled. "I sure do!" After the wonderful day she'd had, that was one thing she was sure of.

As Fudge was being loaded into the trailer, she giggled, noticing that the guard of honour was still going for the pizza guys, who were returning to Todd, the Pizza Planet truck.

"Thanks, guys!" she hollered, waving to the crowd as she disappeared from view.

* * *

It was no surprise to anybody that Fudge slept all the way back to the hospital. However, it _was_ a surprise when she woke up on her own to the bright lights of the hospital.

"Did you have fun?" Dr. Green questioned with a smile as soon as he saw Fudge.

"Definitely!" she answered.

"Well, we should get you back up to your room now, Miss Fudge." A nurse took over pushing the wheelchair.

"Hey, Fudge?" Flo began as they all journeyed back to the room.

"Yeah?"

"Did you notice anything weird about today, honey?"

Fudge scrunched her face up in thought. She couldn't think of a thing. "No."

"Well, what do people normally get on their birthdays?"

"Presents... Cake..." Fudge trailed off, knowing that that was it. There hadn't been a cake.

"Well, we didn't get you a cake, honey", Flo explained, "but I _did_ make somethin' I think you'll like..."

The door to Fudge's hospital room opened and, to her amazement, there was a gorgeous trifle there waiting for her.

"Ohhh! _Yes_!" Fudge exclaimed. "It looks _delicious_! Thank you so much, Flo!"

The ex-show car smiled and shrugged modestly. "No problem, sweet pea. Happy birthday." She gave Fudge a kiss.

"We thought we'd get enough pizza for everyone at the Fudge Rossi-Topolino Birthday Bonanza", Lightning explained. "Then we'd have dessert alone."

Fudge smiled gratefully. "Sounds good to me."

They couldn't have candles in the hospital for safety reasons, but Fudge didn't mind. It wasn't like she really needed to make a wish. Still, her family sang "Happy Birthday" one more time and insisted that she pretended to blow out the candles, which she did.

"You missed one!" Lightning joked, cracking everyone up.

Fudge rolled her eyes and pretended to blow it out, sticking her tongue out at Lightning.

"Thank you guys so much!" Fudge repeated as the trifle was being served (again, even Sarge had some, to Fudge's surprise and once again, everyone beamed, watching her feed Hugsy). "This has been the best birthday ever! It means so much to me. You know, with..." She trailed off awkwardly.

"You're welcome, sweetie." McQueen kissed her. "It means so much to all of us that you had fun. Hey, I promised you you'd still have a fun day, didn't I?"

"Yeah... You did."

"Yes." Luigi's voice was cold as ice. "I have to admit, you did a very good job today." He looked around at the rest of his friends, his voice warming up a little. "Thank you all so much for doing this."

Fudge felt a pang of hurt at these words. She remembered how unsure of what was going on he'd seemed earlier. Then she remembered how surprised he'd looked at every surprise his daughter had received. And then it dawned on her. Luigi had had nothing to do with any of the day's events. He didn't organise anything for her. She couldn't believe it. It hurt so much. He was her _father_. And he'd done nothing to help make her day special.

In a flash, before she could get upset at Luigi any more, Fudge remembered the present from Sammy.

"Here it is!" Luigi handed it to her.

"Open it, open it!" Mater cried.

So, she did. The birthday girl began peeling back the wrapping paper and when she unearthed what was hidden underneath, she couldn't believe what she saw...

It was a really old book, but not just any really old book. It was a really old book about the history of Piston Cup and biographies of some of the earliest racers.

"I can't believe it!" Fudge murmured softly. This was a book that she had always really wanted _and_ she knew that it was extremely rare.

"Wow!" Lightning exclaimed, peering at it. "I've always wanted this book, but I've never been able to find it. You're a lucky girl, Fudge-O."

Fudge grinned. "I'll let you read it once _I'm_ done reading it", she promised.

"Thanks, Fudge-O."

When Fudge flipped to the title page, her eyes nearly popped right out of her skull. "No _way_!" she gasped.

On the title page were the autographs of the Fabulous Hudson Hornet (it must've been _really_ old then), Junior "Midnight" Moon, River Scott and Louise "Barnstormer" Nash in faded ink.

"Wow!" Lightning repeated. "And it's autographed!" He shook his hood in disbelief. "This thing must be worth a fortune! Gosh, she must really care about you to give you that!"

"Yeah... It wouldn't be hard for her to do, though. You know, because she lived in Thomasville."

"Guess not", Lightning agreed. "Still, that's a pretty awesome gift!"

Opening the present had given Fudge joy to distract her from her hurt over Luigi's lack of involvement in her birthday. She made a mental note to thank Sammy as soon as she could.

* * *

After another hour of talking and laughing with her family, Fudge fell asleep with a huge smile on her face. She was still wearing her crown, badge and necklace.

"Wow, we really wore her out!" Lightning commented with a laugh, stroking her hair.

Sally beamed at him. "You should be proud of yourself, Stickers!" she informed him.

"Yeah, I'd say she forgot about being in pain and sick and unable to walk for awhile, thanks to you", Sarge declared.

"I'll say", Ramone agreed.

" _Grazie_." Guido smiled. "This mean... so much to Fudgie."

"Well, I guess I _do_ feel a little proud", Lightning proclaimed modestly. As far as the actual day itself was concerned, he was more proud than he'd been of winning any race. The only thing he _didn't_ feel proud of was that he was the reason she was having a tough time to begin with, meaning that she needed cheering up this much. He gave the girl a kiss. "Happy birthday, Fudge-O. I love you. I love you so much."

As the RS family filed out of the room, heading off to chatter about the day's events and start planning their Caribbean trip, they all knew that there would be a lot more challenges, hard times and tears ahead of them, but they had all forgotten about it for one day and so had Fudge. That was what the whole day had been about. So, it was safe to say that it was a huge success.

 **I was actually inspired by an actual event I went to for a celebrity's birthday. That was just people getting together and the Birthday Tree. I added in the karaoke and the pizza bit. The latter was inspired by a scene from one of my favourite movies (besides _Cars_ , of course!). If you've read my other works, I think you can guess it was _The Internship_! I named the pizza delivery guys after the characters in the movie (and Nick is played by Owen Wilson!). If you read this story on Wattpad, you can watch the scene from the movie.**

 **I assume you all noticed a _Cars 3_ character make an appearance in this chapter?**

 **Well, I guess that's it. I'd love to read your comments! :)**


	22. Off on an Adventure

**I just thought I'd let you know now that I didn't have many ideas for their vacation when I originally wrote this story. So, it only appears briefly. Don't worry. There will be more details in _COWTF?_ ( _Cars Origins: What the Fudge?_)**

 **In the meantime, however, here is one of the first scenes that began to form in my mind when I had the idea for this story. Of course, I had the basic idea first, but this was the first one I could fully imagine in terms of dialogue.**

 **Chapter 22- Off on an Adventure**

" _It's just so unbelievable!_ " Fudge heard herself exclaim on the TV, shaking her head in amazement. _"I was not expecting this_ at all _! It's... It's just been_ awesome _!_ "

" _My goal here was to make Fudge happy and I think it worked!_ " Lightning's interview lit up the screen. " _Nothing here has made me happier than seeing Fudge so happy because_ _Chrysler knows she's deserved it after everything she's been through._ "

The entire RS gang was gathered in Fudge's hospital room, watching the news report on Fudge's birthday the following day where they would also go into a little more detail of Fudge's current condition. After all, the general public hadn't received one since the first race of the Piston Cup season.

This was what they'd been waiting for. After the more serious news, they were on! All of them were smiling excitedly to see the coverage on the big day.

" _And although the karaoke was fun_ ", the reporter commented, showing a clip of the karaoke portion of the evening, " _the clear highlight of the night was the pizza!_ " It showed the arrival of the pizza and the delivery guys' dancing.

"Yeah!" Fudge cheered and everyone laughed.

" _Best day of work ever!_ " Stuart proclaimed gleefully.

The report ended with the crowd yelling, "Happy birthday, Fudge!"

"Wow!" Lightning was the first one to speak once it was over. "They did a great job!"

"Yeah! So did you!" Fudge informed him with a grin as she picked up her new book from Sammy and started reading it again.

"Hello, Fudge!" Dr. Wilson called out, entering the room and preparing to examine the girl. "I just saw the news report about your day yesterday. It looks like you had a fun day. It looked fantastic."

Fudge nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I really did!"

Dr. Wilson turned to Lightning and smiled. "You must care about Fudge an awful lot to go to all that trouble for her."

He shrugged modestly, stroking Fudge's hair. "Yeah, well, she's the best little sister a guy could ask for."

"And you're the best brother a little sister could ask for", Fudge added, nuzzling him.

"Well", Dr. Wilson got down to business, "if you're ready, we need to get started. Are you ready?"

"Yeah!"

* * *

As if things weren't already going great enough, Fudge got back out of hospital a couple of days later and, as promised, the RS gang went on a cruise to the Caribbean.

"This place is beautiful!" Fudge commented, feeling the warm sunshine on her face and the clear blue water cooling her legs. "I'm glad we came here."

"Me too", Lightning agreed. "We left it up to fate and fate was kind to us."

"I guess it decided we needed a break."

"Yeah, I guess so." He smiled. Wasn't that the truth?

"Fudgie!" Luigi called out, rushing forward towards his daughter. He scooped her onto his hood. "Come and see this! There are lots of beautiful fish here! Come and see before Mater scares them all away!"

Fudge giggled. "Okay. Let me see!"

Luigi led Fudge away, leaving Lightning alone. He sighed, knowing that Luigi was just looking for an excuse to get Fudge away from him.

Sally had seen what had just happened and smiled at her boyfriend sympathetically. "I'm sure he just feels bad for not doing anything for Fudge's birthday. He just wants to make it up to her by spending more time with her."

Lightning sighed yet again. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

* * *

When the RS gang returned from their Caribbean vacation (by which point, it was the beginning of July), all of them felt relaxed, refreshed and just in general better. Fudge would be home for a couple of days before going back to the hospital, but she didn't mind (much!) after the week and bit she'd had.

Still, it was pretty clear that her mood had gone downhill a little as she returned to her quiet, boring, depressing routine from before her birthday.

"I'm so glad we went on that vacation!" Fudge remarked almost longingly on their second night back in Radiator Springs as Flo fed her her dinner.

"It was pretty wonderful, wasn't it, honey?" Flo agreed, spooning up some mashed potatoes for the girl.

"Yeah, and that doesn't mean the fun's over", Lightning piped up. "You and I've got a fun day planned for tomorrow before you go back to hospital."

"Why? What's going on tomorrow?"

Guido smiled and gave Fudge a playful tap on the nose. "(You will have to wait and see.)"

"For now", Lightning announced, "I gotta get ready for my date with Sally and another night of tractor tipping with Mater."

"Good luck", Fudge teased.

Lightning laughed, kissed his little sister and left.

* * *

Fudge couldn't stop thinking about this supposed fun day for the rest of the night. What fun could she possibly have while she was cooped up in bed? Sure, watching _Friends_ was fun, but that wouldn't be that big of a deal. She and Lightning did that every day now. She thought about it when Sarge, Fillmore and Sheriff all showed up during her dinner to see her (they'd come by earlier, but she was asleep). She thought about it as she watched Luigi and Guido clean out the bucket after she had thrown up in it. She thought about it while she argued with Luigi and Guido over her going to sleep without letting them brush her teeth for her, which she eventually won. She thought about it for the rest of the night until sleep took over her.

* * *

"Fudge! Come on, Fudge-O! Time to wake up now."

Fudge, who had saliva dripping down her chin from drooling in her sleep, couldn't help smiling when she opened her eyes on that Friday morning to find Lightning there. "Hey..."

"How's the best little sister a guy could ask for doing today?" He wiped her chin casually with a tyre as if it wasn't something as gross as saliva he was wiping away.

"I'm okay... How was last night with Sally and Mater?"

"It was great!" He told her about the night he had, having a romantic dinner with Sally up at the Wheel Well and going tractor tipping with Mater.

When he finished, Fudge looked at him, concerned. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Why?"

"You look tired. And you _sound_ tired."

"Don't worry about it, sweetie", he responded casually. Fudge had noted that he seemed tired several times over the last few months and he always brushed it off this casually. "I just didn't sleep very well last night, that's all. I'm fine, all right?"

No way was Lightning telling Fudge _why_ he hadn't slept very well the night before. He had yet _another_ nightmare about the accident. As he often did, he woke up in tears, which woke Sally up. He stayed up, crying his eyes out and Sally stayed up to comfort him. However, Fudge was the last person he was going to talk to about that; she'd been feeling rather down lately and the last thing he wanted to do was make her feel worse.

"You keep saying you're tired", Fudge commented. She gave him a teasing smile. "Maybe you need to take naps like me."

"Maybe!" he chuckled.

In order to distract Fudge, McQueen brought forward a tray with a bowl of Frosted Flakes on it. "I brought you breakfast! Sorry. I'm not much of a cook like Flo, but I know you like these, so..." He started spooning up some cereal for her.

"Thanks... Just out of curiosity, where _is_ Flo?"

"I told her I'd take care of your breakfast today 'cause you and I got a busy morning."

"Oh, yeah", Fudge recalled, swallowing. "You said we were gonna have a fun day."

Lightning nodded seriously. "We are. I'm gonna take you into town to see everyone."

Fudge's eyes lit up. "Really?!" This sounded exciting.

"Yeah. I mean, you're gonna have to stay in the wheelchair, but Guido and I were talking yesterday while you were taking your fiftieth nap of the day." He chuckled and Fudge did too. "We thought you might want a change of scenery."

"Yeah..." It _did_ sound great. Ever since the accident, the only times she was allowed to leave her room was to go to the bathroom and the only times she ever left Casa Della Tires was to go to the hospital and the occasional visit to Flo's. She could _definitely_ do with a change of scenery. Especially if said change of scenery was the rest of Radiator Springs.

"Okay", Lightning announced, setting the empty bowl aside once Fudge had finished eating, "but first, we're not going _anywhere_ till you've been cleaned up a little bit, all right?" He grabbed the front of her shirt. "You can't wear a T-shirt with soup all down it. And milk. And orange juice. And... What's this?"

"Vomit", Fudge admitted quietly and kind of sheepishly. "I threw up last night."

Lightning sighed. "Fudge, this is exactly what I'm talking about!" He sighed again and continued in a much more sympathetic tone as he started pulling Fudge's arms out of the sleeves. "Come on, sweetie." He pulled the shirt over her head and dumped it on the floor. "I _know_ you're not feeling very well and I'm _really_ sorry about that..." Again, he was sorry in more ways than one. "But you still gotta let us take care of you, all right?"

* * *

Once Lightning had cleaned her up and dressed her in a clean plain blue T-shirt, a pair of white shorts and her Ugg boots and fed her a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, she was ready to go! Lightning started wheeling an excited Fudge downstairs. The only time she felt down was when she could hear Luigi and Guido arguing in Italian in the store room. They'd been arguing a lot lately.

"(...trust him with our daughter!)" Fudge heard Luigi shout.

"(He is just taking her to visit our friends! He is not going to do anything to her!)" Guido shot back. "(Fudge will be _fine_!)"

"(Well, that is what he said on the day of the accident!)"

"(Yes! And that is exactly what it was! An _accident_! He said he was sorry so many times! And in case you have not noticed, he has been with Fudge every single day, taking care of her ever since she came home from the hospital!)"

"(Guido! I do not understand why you are not more upset about what has happened to our daughter!)"

"(I _am_ upset!)" Guido insisted. "(I am _very_ upset that this has happened to her! Don't you _ever_ doubt that for even a second! But it is no one's fault! It was just an accident! These things happen! Besides, what does this have to do with Fudge visiting our friends?!)"

"(The fact that the car taking her to see our friends is the one who caused her accident!)"

"Uh... hey!" Lightning called out uncomfortably. He hadn't understood what the two had been talking about, but he knew that they were arguing and could easily guess that it was about him.

The two Italians turned around to find Lightning and Fudge there and Fudge looked upset. Unlike Lightning, she had understood her fathers and she hated it whenever they fought, especially when they put her in the middle, which they occasionally did.

" _Ciao_ , Fudgie!" they greeted her in unison, kissing her gently.

" _Ciao_ , McQueen!" Guido added. "You... take Fudge now?"

"Yeah... Is that okay?"

" _Si_ ", Guido replied hurriedly before Luigi could say anything. He gave Fudge another kiss. "(Have fun, Fudge!)"

"I will!" she responded with a huge grin, returning the kiss.

"All right! Let's go!" Lightning was quick to get her out of there before Luigi stopped them.

* * *

"So, we're gonna visit _everyone_ in town?" Fudge asked.

"That's right... Now, where do you wanna start?"

Fudge thought about that. "Flo's seems like a good place to start", she decided finally. "Then we can go up to Ramone's and the firehouse and then we can come back down, going to Lizzie's, Sarge's, Fillmore's... and so on."

"Good idea... Let's go!"

It felt weird being back at Flo's. Fudge would start going occasionally for meals upon her return from the hospital. However, most of the time Flo would serve her her meals in bed. So, it was fun to be back. In fact, she hadn't been anywhere in town since January. This was gonna be fun.

"Hey, boss!" Mack, who was over at Flo's, called out when he saw them coming. "Hey, Fudge!"

"Hey, Mack!" the pair chorused.

"You must be gettin' better if you're goin' out, Fudge", the big truck commented.

"Well, I'm still feeling kind of sick and tired", the girl admitted, "but even so, I'm excited to be getting out."

"I'm sure you are", Mack responded. "You must get bored stayin' in bed all the time."

"Yeah..." He was telling _her_.

"Well, we're goin' to see everyone in town", Lightning announced, "starting with Flo's."

"All right. Have fun."

"See ya, Mack!" Fudge and Lightning called out in unison, moving towards the doors to the café entrance.

"Hello!" Lightning hollered as he opened the doors and wheeled Fudge in.

Flo, who was busy in the kitchen, glanced up and her eyes widened. " _Heyyy_ , honey!" she gasped, rushing over to Fudge, clearly both happy and surprised to see her. "How you doin'? It's so good to see you out and about! Oh! I could just kiss you all over and I'm gonna!" So, she did, making Fudge smile.

"We're off on an adventure!" she declared with a smile.

"Yep", Lightning confirmed. "We're visiting everyone in town."

"Sounds fun", Flo commented.

"So, what are you doing?" Fudge wanted to know.

"I'm bakin' brownies!" the former show car replied. "I was gonna do them for your dinner tonight with some pizza."

Fudge lit up. "Anything I can do to help?"

"I'm not sure, honey. You're still tired and you can't move that much..." She thought about it. "D'you feel up to cracking some eggs?"

The thirteen-year-old smiled. "Yeah!"

"All right..." Flo pushed the girl closer to the bench where the brownie mix rested in a bowl and handed her a shiny, smooth egg.

Slowly, Fudge tapped it up against the bowl. Slowly, she inserted her thumb into the crack she'd made. Slowly, she used her fingers to pull the two pieces of egg apart, allowing the yolk to fall into the bowl. She repeated this process with the second egg just as slowly, if not, slower. It seemed as though the simple task had wiped all of the energy out of her. It just didn't seem like Fudge. She was normally so bubbly and full of energy.

"Are you all right?" Lightning questioned.

"Yeah!" she answered, panting as she slumped back in her wheelchair.

"That sap the energy out of you?"

"Yeah..."

Both Flo and Lightning laughed.

"Okay. Well, thanks for your help, honey."

* * *

After talking and laughing with Flo for a little while, the two moved on to Ramone's.

"Didn't you tell Flo I was coming?" Fudge asked Lightning.

"No. Only Luigi and Guido know you're out here. We thought it would be fun to surprise everyone."

"Oh!" She grinned. "This is gonna be fun!"

"Hi, Ramone!" the human girl giggled as she was wheeled into the Lowrider's store.

Ramone was busy in the middle of painting a car, but he looked up and broke out into a huge grin. "Hey, _chica_!"

The thirteen-year-old smiled as she watched Ramone paint. He was a magician with paint and so, it was incredible to watch.

When he was done, Ramone turned to Fudge. "So, what brings you here, Fudge? Bein' stuck in bed drivin' you crazy?"

Fudge grinned. "Something like that."

"Aw!" Ramone looked at her sympathetically. "Do I need to pick you up?"

"I'd _like_ it", Fudge admitted, giggling, "but I'm not sure that's the best idea."

"Come on!" Ramone picked Fudge up out of her wheelchair and placed her on his hood. He started bouncing her up and down on his hydraulics a little bit, making Fudge laugh.

"Just be careful with her, Ramone", Lightning cautioned. "She's still pretty fragile and even breaking some eggs over at Flo's sapped up all of her energy."

Ramone laughed as he lowered Fudge back down to the ground. "I can't believe it wasn't that long ago you spent _hours_ on end dancin' to 'Gangnam Style!' Now, you get exhausted from crackin' eggs!"

"Yeah…"

* * *

After visiting Ramone, Fudge and McQueen went up to the firehouse and the courthouse to see Red ("And Stanley!" Fudge pointed out with a grin) followed by going to see Lizzie and Sally, who were all overjoyed to see her (Fudge pointed out that Sally looked tired too, but _she_ didn't give a reason why either). Then, by the time they arrived at Sarge's Surplus Hut, word had spread.

The Jeep smiled broadly when the race car and the human girl entered the store. "Hey, soldier! I saw you out the window, goin' to see Sally and I was wonderin' if you were gonna come and see me."

"Yeah, we're seeing everyone!" Lightning assured him.

"We're not leaving anybody out", Fudge confirmed. "We've already seen Flo, Ramone, Red, Lizzie and Sally. So, you're our next victim."

Sarge chuckled.

* * *

Once they were done in there, Fudge and Lightning decided it was time to move on to Fillmore's. So, they called goodbye to Sarge and off they went. When they left ten minutes later with some fruit juice the hippie van had made himself for Fudge, they were greeted by a rusty, dented tow truck.

"Hey there, buddy!" he called out happily, approaching them. "Tractor tippin' last night was really fun, wasn't it?"

"It sure was."

"Hi, Mater!" the human girl giggled.

"Howdy, Fudge! What is you doin' out here?"

"We're going to visit everyone in town!" she explained. "And we're up to you!"

"Well, dad-gum!" Mater sounded very happy. "So, what do y'all wanna do? Wanna go tractor tippin'?"

"I don't think that's a good idea", Fudge answered.

"All right. So, what did you wanna do?"

"Well, after you, we were gonna go and see Sheriff and then to the waterfall", Lightning informed Mater. "Wanna come with us?"

"Yes, siree!"

* * *

"Fudge!" Sheriff called out when he saw the thirteen-year-old coming down the road.

"Hi, Sheriff!"

"I almost didn't recognise you, now that you're clean!" he chuckled.

Fudge giggled. Mater and Lightning laughed too.

"Yeah, well, I took good care of her to make her good as new", Lightning informed Sheriff.

Sheriff chuckled some more. "So now, you've escaped Casa Della Tires?" he asked Fudge.

"Yeah! I'm free!" she cheered.

"And you thought it would be a good idea to tell an officer of the law that?" he teased.

Fudge just giggled.

* * *

"Wow! It's been _ages_ since I've been here!" Fudge declared excitedly.

Where was _here_? The waterfall. It was one of Fudge's favourite places to go for both fresh air and quiet solitude. Sometimes, she'd just sit there and read or write or do her home-school assignments or even simply think. Sometimes, she'd swim in the water. Sometimes, she would even swing across a tree branch to land in the water.

"Yeah, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Lightning agreed. That wasn't just because of the accident, but the waterfall wasn't always the ideal place to go in the winter, which was the season in which Fudge's accident occurred.

However, this time while they were there, Fudge just sat on a rock with her bare feet dipped in the water, talking to Mater and Lightning. A couple of times, she'd reach out and splash them playfully, for which they'd splash her back. Pretty soon, all three of them were laughing. At one point, Lightning looked at Fudge to see her with a huge grin on her face and she was laughing hysterically. With how sick, tired and in pain she'd been lately, it was good to see her so happy.

* * *

However, it didn't last long. By the time the sun started going down, so were Fudge's eyelids and she was yawning loudly.

"Wanna go home and take a nap?" Lightning questioned.

Fudge nodded slightly and let out another yawn.

Lightning picked her up and returned her to her wheelchair, putting her Ugg boots back on. "All right... I'm sure Flo's gonna be ready with your dinner in about an hour. So, we gotta hurry back if you want a nap. Come on, Mater!" he added.

"Okey-dokey!" The tow truck followed.

"Okay..." Fudge agreed as the race car started wheeling her back. "I kinda wanted to go up to the Wheel Well too, but we can save that for another time."

"Sure can."

"When do you think I'll next be allowed to go out?"

"I don't know, sweetie", Lightning answered honestly. "You're still not really feeling that well, are you?"

"No", she admitted quietly.

"But hey! Tomorrow, I'll come over again and we'll watch some more _Friends_ , all right?"

Fudge lit up. "Yeah! Joey just proposed to Rachel! Sort of. We _gotta_ find out what happens next!"

Lightning chuckled. "Yeah, we do."

"Hey, Lightning?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for taking me out today. I've really had fun."

"No problem, Fudge-O!" he assured the girl. "I'm glad you've had fun."

* * *

When the trio returned to Casa Della Tires, Guido was outside, stacking some tyres.

"Fudgie!" he exclaimed, rushing forward to kiss her. "(You are home! Did you have fun?)"

" _Si_ ", Fudge replied. "(I am tired, but I've had fun!)"

"(Well, that is good.)" Guido kissed her again. Then he turned around and called, "(Luigi! Guess who is back!)"

Luigi came out of the store and also tore forward to give his daughter a kiss. "Are you okay, Fudge? You are not hurt?"

Lightning rolled his eyes.

"No. I'm fine. Lightning looked after me."

"Well, he does not always look after you." He gave her another kiss.

"I'm really tired!" Fudge changed the subject hurriedly, knowing exactly what Luigi meant. "Can I get back up to my room now, please? I need a nap before Flo gets here."

"Of course." Luigi started wheeling her back inside, but not without giving Lightning a look that clearly said, _And don't you follow._

When they were gone, Lightning sighed. He couldn't believe it. _I've been looking_ _after his daughter for several months_ and _I take her out for the afternoon and make her_ _happy and_ this _is the thanks I get!_ he thought angrily.

Guido noticed how hurt he looked and gave him a smile and a comforting pat. " _Grazie_. I know... Fudge have fun."

Lightning returned the smile. "Thanks."

"Hey, buddy!" Mater piped up excitedly. "I got some new movies for us to watch! Wanna come over?!"

Lightning turned to him with a smile. "Sure, Mater. Let's go."

McQueen went off with Mater with mixed feelings. He was happy and proud because Fudge had had another good day. He was hurt and angry because of Luigi's treatment. He was happy and relieved that he was going to relax with his best friend. Finally, he was exhausted because he'd had a long day and he hadn't slept well the night before.

 **Warning: The next chapter is another sad one. I hope you can handle it.**

 **In the meantime, please review.**


	23. Tragedy Strikes

**Chapter 23- Tragedy Strikes**

"You know what I haven't done in ages?" Fudge quizzed the rest of her family one sunny morning in late July as she polished off her orange juice.

"What, Fudgie?" Luigi wondered.

"Gone up to the Wheel Well" the human girl responded. "I think the last time I was up there was when we had that farewell party for Francesco." The teenager felt a shiver run through her spine as she remembered that that night was the last thing she remembered before waking up in the hospital. It was pretty weird. Almost eerie in a way, even.

"Do you wanna go up there today, Fudge-O?" Lightning asked.

Fudge nodded. "Yes please."

"All right. Well, we can do that if you wanna do that and it's okay with your dads", the stock car offered. He looked to Luigi and Guido.

"Okay." Guido nodded.

Luigi hesitated for a moment before he huffed, "Fine."

* * *

So, he did. It wasn't exactly easy to push her wheelchair up the hills and through the winding roads, but Lightning managed.

"We made it!" Fudge cheered as the Wheel Well Motel came into view.

"Yeah! All right!"

"And it's all thanks to lightning speed from Lightning McQueen!"

The stock car laughed as he bumped her tyre lightly against her foot in a high-five.

Thanks to him, it wasn't long before Fudge was gazing at the breathtaking views of Ornament Valley.

"I love this place", the teenager commented.

"Yeah. Me too", McQueen agreed. "You know, I can't decide what time of day gives you the best view, though."

"I know." Fudge nodded. "Night, day, sunrise, sunset. It's all awesome!"

"Yeah. You're so lucky to have grown up here."

"I think so too." Fudge smiled at him. "Not just for the scenery, but for the residents!"

Lightning returned the smile.

"Remember when you came up here with Sally for a date and I was your maître d'?"

"Yeah!" Lightning chuckled. "And someone was already sitting where you put us."

"Well, how was _I_ supposed to know that?!" Fudge cried defensively.

"I don't know! Maybe the fact that you supposedly _work_ here?!"

"Yeah, well, I quit. I didn't really wanna be a maître d'. I wanna be an assistant crew chief."

Lightning didn't answer. He really didn't want to be talking about that. He knew that he'd have to tell Fudge sometime that he wasn't taking her racing again, but that time didn't have to be today. It could always wait until she was better (she was getting there, he noted happily); after all, it wasn't as if she could really expect to go out racing until then.

"Are you all right?" Fudge questioned, concerned.

"Yeah, yeah!" he assured her quickly. "I was just thinking of how great it is that you're getting better." Which was true.

Her smile expanded. "I _feel_ better. I mean, I still don't feel a _hundred_ per cent better- far from it- but I know I'm getting a lot better."

"That's good. I think we all saw it before you did."

"Yeah. I'm getting closer to starting therapy. The doctors have said so."

"That's good", Lightning repeated. "I sure hope it happens soon."

"Me too."

After about half an hour, Fudge was ready for another nap, so Lightning pushed her down the hills and back to Casa Della Tires.

"Hi, Luigi!" Fudge called out, giggling, noticing her father outside, neatening up a tyre display.

" _Ciao_ , Fudgie!" He rushed forward and gave her a kiss. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..."

"And McQueen did not-"

"She's fine!" McQueen cut him off.

Luigi just glared and pushed Fudge back inside and up to her room. Lightning followed, not caring what Luigi said or thought.

* * *

Fudge spent the rest of the day eating, sleeping and watching TV, but mostly sleeping. That evening, she got a big surprise.

"Fudgie?" Luigi opened the door to her bedroom. "There are people here to see you."

"Really?"

"Yes", a familiar British accent piped up as Finn entered her bedroom.

She grinned. "Hi!"

"How are you feeling?"

"Okay. I guess."

"You _do_ look an awful lot better", Holley observed, appearing behind Finn.

"Thanks."

"Yeah. You really do", Sammy chimed in.

"So, what have you guys been up to?" Fudge questioned

"We've been in Peru for three weeks", Finn explained "and after we successfully completed another mission, we thought we'd stop by on our way back to London to see how you were."

"And CHROME's got a big award's night comin' up in a few weeks!" Sammy added. "We're pretty sure _we're_ gonna win a few awards! Things are going great for us!"

"Except for one thing..." Finn muttered.

"Shut your trap, Finn McMissile!" Sammy ordered.

"What?" Fudge asked worriedly.

"I don't believe Sammy's been feeling very well lately", Finn explained, despite the human sending him invisible daggers. "I keep telling her she needs to see a doctor-"

"And _I_ keep telling _you_ I don't need to see no doctor!" Sammy yelled, her southern accent thicker than ever. "I'll get over this!"

"So, tell me about this awards night!" Fudge requested, eager to change the subject. "It sounds pretty cool!"

By the time Finn, Holley and Sammy had left, Fudge was feeling very cheered up. The only thing was how Finn's words made the thirteen-year-old fear for her half-sister. What was wrong with her?

* * *

A few weeks later, by which point, it was early August, Fudge was being woken up by Luigi at sunrise. Even though the sun was coming up, the day looked bleak and it was probably going to rain.

"Come on, Fudgie. We need to go over to Flo's now."

"Okay..." Fudge mumbled, reaching for her glasses. She didn't even realise anything was odd until she took a peek at her clock and saw that it read 6:04. In the _morning_. She should've known, what with the sunrise. Ever since the accident, nobody _ever_ woke her up that early. Maybe Luigi was just trying to make things go back to normal, but even if she was getting better, she still got really tired. "How come I have to wake up now?"

"Finn and Holley are here", Luigi explained. "They have something very serious to tell us."

Now, _that_ got Fudge's attention. "What?"

"I don't know. We have to go over to Flo's and find out."

"Okay..."

As Luigi carried Fudge out of her bed, placed her in her wheelchair and dressed her, the human girl was puzzled, but not concerned. Her confusion grew when she saw that as well as the rest of her Radiator Springs family, Finn and Holley were there, like Luigi said. However, there was someone missing.

"Where's Sammy?" she questioned, puzzled.

Both Finn and Holley became quiet and looked rather uncomfortable, lowering their hoods. For several moments, nobody spoke.

"That's why we're here", Finn answered finally.

"Uh-oh!" Lightning groaned. "What happened?"

"Sammy wasn't quite well for a while", Finn began quietly. "After a long time- after she found an... an unusual lump- we were finally able to convince her to go to a doctor..."

"Oh, no!" Flo murmured softly.

"It turns out..." Holley trailed off before taking a deep breath and starting again. "It turns out Sammy has breast cancer."

Just like that, Flo's was dead silent yet again. You could've been able to hear a pin drop. Nobody could believe it. Of course, they all knew that Finn, Holley and Sammy had one of the most dangerous occupations imaginable and sometimes feared they wouldn't return from missions. However, Sammy was facing a different kind of danger and nobody knew how she would handle it. Besides, Sammy was so young. They knew she was only twenty-four years old. Her life should've just been beginning.

Lightning took a deep breath. "Wow..."

"Dad-gum!" Mater added, sounding both shocked and sad.

"I just can't believe it..." Sally shook her hood.

"I know..." everyone else added.

Red burst into tears. After a moment, so did Fudge.

"How is she?!" Luigi demanded, squeezing his daughter's hand.

"She's in hospital in London", Finn reported, "and she's about to start chemotherapy." He took a deep breath, as if he were fighting tears himself. "All we can do is hope for the best."

"She... She won't... die, will she?" Fudge ventured fearfully.

Finn took another deep breath. "I don't know. I just don't know."

Through her tears, Fudge's mind was working full power. She thought about when she first met Sammy and how she thought that the older human was her stalker. She thought about how Sammy had saved her from being held hostage by the Lemons. She thought about Sammy's frequent visits to Radiator Springs where the two humans would hang out together, talking and laughing. She thought about the two of them training on the CHROME simulators together. She thought about every time the two of them had been mistaken for sisters (which was quite a lot of times!) and discovering that they actually _were_ sisters. That was followed by memories of meeting RJ and visiting Scotland with them. How could Sammy be facing this awful fight?

Not knowing what else to do. Fudge reached out to touch the wheels of her chair and began rolling away from Flo's. It was slow going at first since she'd never done it herself before.

"Fudgie!" Luigi called, starting after her. "Where are you going?!"

"Just let her go, Luigi!" Lightning instructed. "I think she just wants to be alone right now."

Once again, the Fiat gave him a cold look, but said nothing.

"Will she be all right?" Finn wondered anxiously once Fudge was gone.

"She'll be fine", Sarge assured him. "She did this when Doc passed too. She was just upset."

"Well, actually, she was _angry_ when Doc died", Ramone corrected him. "Remember? She felt like he abandoned her?"

"Like Stickers said, she just needs some time alone", Sally confirmed.

* * *

It all felt too familiar to Fudge. She was fleeing from Flo's, her brain far too preoccupied to care about where she was going, knowing that someone she cared about was either dead or dying, although it didn't feel quite real. The only real differences were that it was now Sammy whose life was potentially ending and not Doc's and that Fudge fled on foot the first time around. Now, she was in a wheelchair.

Well, then there was the fact that she was angry when Doc died. This time, she wasn't sure _how_ to feel. She wasn't angry like she had been at Doc. She wasn't ten years old anymore; she knew that Doc hadn't abandoned her at all. And neither would Sammy if... if she lost her fight. Of course, there was shock. Then there was the sadness that she could potentially lose her sister. And fear for the same reason.

That was why she'd fled Flo's. She just wanted to be alone to think about her sister. Normally, she'd write stuff like this down in her journal, but she wasn't quite ready to write again. She was so close to that, though. So, she would just have to worry about Sammy in her head.

Thoughts of Sammy's cancer kept going through Fudge's mind like a broken record. She had to be okay... right? After all, _she_ was after the accident. Then again, Fudge wasn't fighting cancer. This was different. This was much bigger than a few bruises and broken bones.

"Please, God!" the teen whispered up to the sky. "Please just let her be okay!"

Fudge had never felt like this before. The shock, sadness and fear was refusing to leave her brain and it was making her heart race. It was almost like a physical pain in the brain. She didn't know what to do. As the rain started coming down, a specific memory with Sammy came to Fudge's mind...

* * *

 _An eleven-year-old Fudge- dressed in a black T-shirt, black cargo pants and black_ _sneakers- nearly jumped right of her skin when she heard a loud bell chiming while she was_ _gazing at the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower. She glanced at her watch. Midnight. She_ _had to hurry. Time was running out. Okay. Where were those jerkwagons? She examined her_ _watch again and saw a red flashing light in the middle of a map of Paris. It was only two_ _blocks away, but... underground? Right! Of course! The Catacombs! Duh! She had to get_ _inside! There was no time to lose._

 _Thankfully, the nearest entrance wasn't too far away, but she still had a way to go_ _before she reached her destination. Not only that, but she ran into another problem. Her_ _footsteps were so loud and echo-ey in the dark tunnels. There had to be another way! With a_ _huge grin, Fudge whipped a pen out of her pocket and clicked it right before dropping it._ _Within seconds, the pen transformed into a hover board! Fudge leapt on and she was away._ _CHROME had designed it, so she knew it was silent._

" _Finn McMissile!" a cold German accent came from the distance. "You have no idea_ _how much I have been looking forward to this!"_

" _You'll never win, Professor!" Finn responded angrily._

 _Okay. Now, she_ really _had to hurry. Fudge set the speed on her hover board to the fastest it_ _would go and in a matter of seconds, she could see Finn, Holley, Mater and Sammy tied up_ _and surrounded by Lemons. This was her time to shine!_

 _As quickly and quietly as she could, Fudge whipped out a sleep ray and began firing it_ _at the unsuspecting Lemons._

" _What is going on?!" Professor Zundapp demanded, scanning the tunnels to find the reason_ _his minions were being knocked unconscious._

" _Fudge!" Mater yelled. "Over here!"_

" _I'm coming, Mater!" Fudge pulled a knife out of her shoe and began freeing the tow truck_ _from the ropes. Then the two of them worked together to free Finn, Holley and Sammy._ _Next,_ _Fudge tossed another pen at Sammy, who grinned and activated the hover board._

" _Let's get out of here!" the human woman shouted determinedly._

" _Yeah! Let's!" Fudge agreed as the two of them tore through the Catacombs on their hover_ _boards with the three cars in their team right behind them._

 _Unfortunately, however, so was Professor Zundapp._

" _Oh, no!" Fudge cried, checking her weapon. "The sleep ray's out of gas! What do we do?!"_ _Half a second later, she answered her own question. "I know!" She reached into her shoe and_ _unearthed something else. It was a silver ball, which she didn't hesitate to throw as hard as_ _she could. A yellowish-green transparent ball of energy burst to life and trapped Professor Z._ _He couldn't get out and started screaming..._

"Simulation complete!" _a computerised voice announced._

" _Whoo!" Fudge_ _cheered as the room turned back into the CHROME headquarters._

" _Dad-gum!" Mater shouted._

 _Although Mater had turned down the offer to join CHROME and Fudge was still too young,_ _the two of them would train with the agents. They especially loved using the simulators._

" _Awesome job, Fudge-O!" Sammy cheered, giving her a high-five._

" _Really?" Fudge felt proud, excited and doubtful. "You think so?"_

" _I know so! I've always said CHROME could use someone like you!"_

" _But I'm so clumsy!" the girl protested. "And I'm not very strong!"_

" _Perhaps", Sammy agreed. "But you're a good thinker. And you're getting better at being_ _strong and coordinated."_

" _Really?" Still, Fudge didn't look or sound certain._

 _Sammy smiled and nodded. "Absolutely."_

" _Thanks, Sammy!" Fudge beamed._

" _Well!" Sammy flashed a huge grin. "I think we've worked hard enough today! What_ _do you say we kick back and have some fun?"_

 _She pressed a button on the simulator, transforming the room into a beachside amusement_ _park. The sun was shining and the ocean was shimmering._

" _We can go on some rides and then hit the beach!"_

" _Sounds good to me!" Fudge proclaimed, grinning._

" _Me too!" Finn and Holley added simultaneously._

" _That sounds so dad-gum fun!" Mater voiced his opinion._

" _What are we waiting for? Let's go!"_ _Immediately, Fudge started racing across the sand. The other four were quick to follow her._

* * *

 **BOOM!**

Fudge nearly jumped out of her skin at the first clap of thunder. Within a matter of seconds, grey clouds and rain came gushing down. Fudge knew that she would have to get out of the rain and sheltered from the loud thunder. Quickly scanning her surroundings, she could see that she was in the middle of the Rolling Hills. How did she get that far? This was the first time she'd been able to push herself. Never mind that. The closest shelter was probably Tail Light Caverns. All she had to do to get there was get over these Rolling Hills and go past the Cool Pool of Tranquillity. Then there she was.

Fudge had been to Tail Light Caverns before, but it still took her breath away. All of the lights glowing above her were beautiful and while it was a little cold, it was a rather cosy place to weather out the storm. She decided to park herself far enough away from the entrance to stay dry and relatively warm, but also close enough to watch the rain. There was something comforting about the rain as long as she wasn't caught up in it. And Fudge felt like she needed all the comfort she could get.

After about twenty minutes of staring out of the caverns and at the rain, jumping at the sound of thunder and the flash of lightning, Fudge moved in a little. She remembered the last time she was there. It was in the fall. She, Mater and Lightning had gone exploring and tried to see if they could find any cool things hidden within the caverns. Fudge had found a really old nickel and Mater had found an old spark plug. That had been fun. Why not do it again? Sure, she didn't have a flashlight or the guys' headlights to help her, but that didn't mean it was impossible, right? Maybe it would do her some good to try and take her mind off Sammy for a while. She had plenty of time to figure out what she was feeling.

Fudge ventured deeper and deeper into the caverns, hoping to find something. It sure was dark and scary, even with all of the lights above her. She'd never been there by herself before and was beginning to get a bit creeped out. Every single little noise made her jump. Oh, God! She just wanted the rain to stop, so she could make her way home. She couldn't see the outside anymore, but could feel the rain pitter-pattering on the top of the caverns.

"Ahhh!" Fudge whimpered as she heard a mysterious bump in the caverns.

Maybe she'd feel better waiting near the entrance. It would be lighter there. If anything made a noise, she'd be able to see what it was. Plus, that way, she could leave as soon as the rain stopped.

By the time Fudge came to this decision, she was halfway through the caverns. It wasn't easy, but she was managing to swivel herself around when something caught her eyes. Something shiny lay on the cold floor just several feet away. Maybe it was another nickel. Maybe one that could still be used. Maybe it would be even more money! Slowly and carefully, Fudge began to roll closer to it...

Yes! The "something shiny" turned out to be a dime! It was the shiniest coin she had ever seen. It was beautiful! Not only that, but it was a heads up. Maybe that would bring her some good luck. Chrysler knew she needed it. She remembered when she was younger, she'd be given a dime (normally as a bribe to keep Doc's past a secret!) and she'd feel like she'd struck it rich! Nowadays, she knew that it wasn't much, but every little helped. She reached down to pick it up. Oh, God! It hurt so much! Her spine was in a really strong amount of pain. She couldn't do this! The teenager decided to try leaning back in the chair to try and pick it up with her toes. However, right as she struggled to get back up, she felt something cold and wet brush up against her shoulder.

"Ah!" Fudge cried, flinching.

Only, as she flinched, still bent down a bit, she fell out of her wheelchair! Then to make things even worse, there was a small drop in the ground. She fell down with a hard thud and a crunch, which could only be her glasses.

"Owww!" she cried as her face became wet with mud and blood.

Fudge looked around at her surroundings as best as she could with blurry vision. She was in what looked almost like a ditch. There was a small puddle of water nearby. The water seemed to be coming from a small hole in the top of the caverns where rain was coming in. Glancing up, Fudge could see that her wheelchair was way too far away to get back up. If she was able to get up and walk, she could've done it, but not now.

She couldn't walk. She couldn't get up. Nobody knew where she was.

What was she supposed to do now?

 **Uh-oh! Fudge is in trouble now!**

 **Originally, as you may have guessed by some old author's notes, I was going to kill Sammy off during a mission, but I like her too much for that. Sammy getting cancer fit in more with a subplot of this story I had to remove for various reasons, but I kept that in because it comes up in _Driven to Win_.**

 **By the way, I will now be accepting asks for the Q and A at the end of the story, so if you have any questions to ask of any characters in this story (canon or OC), then ask away!**

 **Please review.**


	24. Where's Fudge?

**Chapter 24- Where's Fudge?**

"I don't care how upset Fudge is right now", Sarge voiced his opinion, gazing out at the wild weather raging on. "I really don't think she should be out in this weather."

"No", Luigi agreed with a heavy sigh. He looked around at his friends. "We should start looking for her."

Everyone was very quick to agree.

"You all know Fudge better than we do", Finn pointed out, speaking from himself and Holley. "Where do you think she would be?"

"We will look everywhere!" Luigi responded determinedly. "She must not have gotten very far, but I am taking no chances." Immediately, he took charge. "Guido and Sheriff, you will come with me and help search the town. Sarge, Fillmore, look by Willy's Butte. Mater, Ramone, go to the tractor field and look there. McQueen, Sally, go to the waterfall and the Wheel Well. Everyone else, search the rest of the desert!"

It wasn't often that Luigi handed out orders like that, but nobody hesitated to obey. Normally, they wouldn't be particularly worried at this point. Fudge went off on her own all the time and had also gotten lost at the Los Angeles International Speedway before the tiebreaker race. Several times, search parties had been called. Fudge was never missing for more than a couple of hours. On this occasion, however, the Radiator Springs family had two concerns. The first was that she was out in a storm and the town was even beginning to flood a little. The second was that she had never been in a wheelchair and unable to walk when she'd been missing.

* * *

Though, as he followed Sally, Lightning couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. The fact that Luigi had sent him as far away from him as possible failed to escape his attention.

"Where could she be?" the race car wondered as he and Sally made their way to the waterfall.

"I don't know", the Porsche replied. "I really don't think she'd be this far up, but it's worth a look. She knows this area, but she couldn't have gone this far by herself."

"I don't think so either", Lightning agreed.

"The good thing about that is", Sally went on with a smile, "it means she'll be found soon."

Lightning mirrored her smile. "I guess that's true."

"We'll probably be the last ones back to town. I'm sure Fudge'll be there when we get back." Sally sounded so confident. Lightning didn't know how she did it. Sure, he was pretty confident and positive, but his girlfriend was even in the bleakest moments.

"Yeah. Probably." The thought cheered him up. He was sure Sally was right.

The two searched the waterfall and drove all the way up to the Wheel Well. It was slow going with the rain pelting down on them and the climb became very slippery. Lightning even nearly skidded off the road at one point. His eyes widened and his heart rate shot up. Not because of what had happened, but what it reminded him of. He could've sworn he felt the horror of realising that Fudge had fallen off his roof.

"Fudge!" he gasped, suddenly feeling the urge to turn back.

"Something wrong, Stickers?" Sally asked, concerned.

"No... No", he assured her. "I'm fine." Only he didn't sound fine at all.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Let's just find Fudge."

So, they continued on their journey. They would call out Fudge's name every now and then, but there was no answer.

"She's not here", Lightning admitted defeat after about thirty seconds at the motel.

"Well, we didn't think she would be", Sally pointed out gently. She began making her way back. "Come on. We better get back to town. I'm sure Fudge will be there by the time we get there."

"Yeah. I'm sure she will..."

* * *

Fudge didn't know how long she was lying there in the dirt, crying her eyes out over both Sammy and her current situation before she lifted her head up. She was hellishly sore, quite scraped up and very afraid, but she was hopeful. Nobody knew where she was! That meant that they would have to come and find her! She'd be out of here in no time!

Okay. How long had she been there already? She had no idea. It was hard to tell without a watch or being able to see an awful lot of light. Still, she was confident that they'd come looking for her soon. Someone would find her in no time.

In her current situation, Fudge had no idea how much time was going by. However, even so, she was beginning to get a little suspicious of how long she'd been stuck there. Wasn't anybody going to come for her? Would they even come here at all? Maybe she should call out. Maybe someone would hear her.

" **HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP!** " she screamed at the top of her lungs. "" **HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP!** "

The only response was her echo, bouncing around the caverns and a boom of thunder.

" **HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP!** " she tried again. " **HELP!** "

Again, nothing but echoes and thunder. If anybody was in the distance, they probably wouldn't hear her anyway with all the noise the storm was making. Maybe she should just call out if she saw or heard something. That way, she could save her energy because Chrysler knew she needed it. Still, she couldn't help but worry how long that would take. The human girl lay her head back down again and started to cry again.

"Please, God!" she repeated. "Just let Sammy be okay and let _me_ be okay!"

* * *

"You know, Fudge would be a lot stronger if I hadn't almost killed her", Lightning commented guiltily as he and Sally made their way back to town.

"Stickers!" Sally cried. She couldn't say anything else. Accident it may be, but he _had_ almost killed Fudge. Nobody could deny that.

"She might've gotten stuck somewhere", the stock car went on. "She might've been able to get out if she wasn't in a wheelchair."

"It's gonna be okay, Stickers", Sally assured him. "We're almost back in town. I'm sure Fudge is already there."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you're right."

Unfortunately, Sally was wrong. Fudge wasn't there when they got back.

Lightning felt his heart sink. "She's not _here_?!"

"No", Luigi sighed. "No one found her."

Sheriff shook his hood. "I can't think of where she could be."

"But Flo, Holley and Lizzie aren't back yet", Finn reasoned. "Perhaps they've had better luck."

Lightning nodded. "I hope so."

Luigi glared at him. "This is all your fault!" he accused.

Lightning looked highly insulted. " _My_ fault?!"

"None of this would have happened if you had not said to let her go!"

"She needed time to herself!" Lightning reminded him.

"And look what has happened _now_ because of that!"

"I'm _sorry_ , Luigi! But come on! How was _I_ supposed to know this would happen?"

The Fiat rolled his eyes and his face took on a disgusted expression. "That seems to be your line of the year!"

Now, Lightning was _really_ mad. "Hey!" he yelled, seething. "I-"

" **ENOUGH!** " Sheriff barked, silencing everyone. Even the rain seemed to quieten down after that. The squad car continued in a much quieter tone, repeating the words he'd told Luigi when he blew up at Lightning on the night of the accident. "This ain't gonna help Fudge."

"You're right, Sheriff", Lightning admitted with a sigh. "I'm sorry."

Sheriff glanced at Luigi, wondering if he was going to apologise too. Yet the Italian car remained silent.

* * *

"Here they are now", Ramone announced, looking down the road to see his wife, the British spy, and the old Model T. Immediately, most of the others turned their attention in that direction.

"Is Fudge with them?" Lightning questioned desperately.

"No..."

"So, where could Fudge be?" Lightning wondered.

Sheriff gave the stock car a sad look before shaking his hood and staring at the ground. "Well, son, I'm afraid that's one question I can't answer."

 **Short chapter, I know. I'll give you guys more soon.**

 **Just a reminder: I am accepting asks for a Q and A at the end, so please don't hesitate to ask any characters- canon or OC- any questions about anything that's happened so far. No asks for _Cars 3_ just yet please because that hasn't happened yet. If I get any Cars 3 asks, I'll save them for _Driven to Win_.**


	25. A Night in the Caverns

**Chapter 25- A Night in the Caverns**

 _Nobody's coming!_ Fudge told herself for the fifty millionth time in who knew how long. She had no idea how long she'd been stranded in the caverns. As hard as she tried to fight it, she kept falling asleep. Dammit! She'd been so tired lately and that was a very serious problem now! _Nobody's coming! Why is nobody coming?_

God! Nothing seemed to be going right for her. She was very upset, which was why she decided to sing to herself to try and calm down. She sang to herself quietly.

She could see that it was still raining. A big puddle was resting by her right elbow and it was getting bigger slowly. It made her think of something. Her throat was raging. What was she going to eat and drink? Well, looking around, she didn't know what to do about the food situation, but she read in a book once that you could drink rainwater. Was there a way she could get to it? Slowly, hesitantly, she tried to roll over. Oh, God! Her back hurt so much.

"Ow!" she cried out, wincing with every movement she made with her back. " _Owww_!"

No. She couldn't do this!

Fortunately, there was another way. It would be a lot easier to wiggle her way around, so that the hole in the "ceiling" was directly over her mouth. It wasn't that far. It was currently pouring onto her neck. Sure, it may take a little bit of trial and error, but it shouldn't be that hard, should it?

Ever so slightly, she edged her way towards the hole. It hurt quite a bit, but she was managing. As she felt the rain trickling against her lips, she sat up as much as she felt she could and opened her mouth. Surprisingly, it worked! Rain was going directly into her mouth. She was sure it wasn't enough to stop her from being thirsty, but at least she had a way of getting _some_ water. At least this way, she could survive a little longer.

The thought of that made Fudge worry. How long _would_ she be here? After all, if she was missing, this wasn't exactly the first place they'd look for her. Exactly. It wasn't the _first_ place they'd look for her, but that didn't mean they _wouldn't_ look for her there. It may take some time, but they'd leave no stone unturned. No matter how long it took. Someone would come for her.

* * *

It was pretty late in the day when Sheriff was parked at Flo's, listening to the radio. Everyone else was trying to listen anxiously, but it was hard to hear with the wind, rain and thunder.

"Weather report says the storm's not gonna clear up till the morning", he reported. "We'll start searchin' again at first light", he announced, beginning to drive off towards his office.

" _What_?!" Lightning cried. " _No_!"

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"If Fudge is out there", he argued, "then she needs our help right now!" Like everyone else, he couldn't stop worrying. Fudge had been lost overnight before when so-called friends had dumped her in the woods.

"It really is the best course of action, soldier", Sarge insisted. "It'll be a lot safer and easier if we wait until morning."

Lightning didn't look convinced in the slightest. Neither did Luigi.

"What if something's happened to her?!" McQueen challenged. "What if she's in trouble?! Or she's been taken?!"

"Who could've taken her?" Sheriff wondered. "There's no one else around here for miles."

"What about the Lemons?! They could've picked her up and taken her without us noticing! Or someone else might have!" He looked at the older British spy, who was parked nearby, listening to every word. "Finn! Isn't it possible?"

Finn was quite taken aback. "Well, it _is_ possible", he admitted.

"You see?! We _gotta_ do something!"

"We've already _told_ you, son!" Sheriff pointed out. "There's nothin' we can really do till first light! We can't hold a proper search in this weather! I'll call in helicopters in the mornin' if I have to, but if I tried tonight, they'll tell you the same thing."

"Well, what are we supposed to do between now and then?" Lightning demanded.

"Fudge needs her medication!" Luigi cried hysterically. "What are we going to do?!"

Sheriff looked at Lightning. "Like I said, I'll call in extra help to find Fudge in the mornin' and you can get some rest." He looked at Luigi. "There's nothin' we can do about _that_ either. All we really _can_ do is find Fudge as soon as possible and give her her medication once we do."

"You want to find Fudge as soon as possible, but you want it to wait until tomorrow", Luigi muttered.

Sheriff sighed, trying not to get too exasperated. "Look, I ain't happy about this either, but I don't know how many times I gotta tell ya. _There's nothin' we can do!_ " He took another look at the crowd around him and added, "Now, you should all go home and get some rest."

* * *

Okay. Even though she couldn't really be sure of how much time had passed since she first got stuck in the caverns and now, Fudge was still certain that someone should've found her by now! Where were they?! It was really dark and scary in there. Not to mention cold. Plus, there were lots of weird noises.

"Ah!" she cried as she heard what sounded like a loud whistling noise. "It's probably just the wind", Fudge whispered to herself, thinking that maybe speaking out loud would convince her more. "It's just the wind. The weather's really bad and wind kind of whistles sometimes."

The next noise to freak her out sounded like someone coughing.

"Hello?!" she called out fearfully. "Is someone there?! Hello?!"

Once again, her only response was echoes.

* * *

Well, not exactly.

"Fudge!" a familiar, gravelly voice called from the darkness.

A smile spread across the human girl's face as she recognised that voice. "Doc!"

The cobalt blue Hudson Hornet gave her a warm smile. "Good to see you, Fudge-O!"

She returned his smile. "Yeah. You too."

"I just have one question for you", Doc announced seriously.

Fudge grew nervous. "Yeah?"

Doc broke out into a huge grin. "What have you _done_ , kiddo?"

The two of them burst out laughing.

"I'm glad you're here", Fudge proclaimed.

"Yeah, well, I didn't come alone, kiddo. Someone else is here with me to help me make sure you're all right."

"Really? Who?"

As an answer, Sammy came forward. She was wearing the exact same clothes she'd worn in Porto Corsa and London during the World Grand Prix- black leather jacket, which made her rainbow streaks _really_ stand out; long-sleeved white button-down shirt, black sleeveless button-down vest; black, knee-length skirt; black tights and black shoes.

"Sammy!" Fudge cried, instantly glad to see her sister.

Like Doc, Sammy gave Fudge a soft smile. "It's okay, Fudge", she greeted her half-sister. "We're here to help you now."'

"I'm glad _you're_ here too", Fudge informed her. "Wait... You're not dead, are you?" she questioned fearfully.

"Of course not!" Sammy laughed. "What? Do you think I need to be dead to be with you here?"

Fudge thought about that. "Guess not..."

"Don't lose hope, Fudge", Doc instructed her. "Those cars back home are your family. And you _never_ give up on family. They'll find you."

"I won't", the thirteen-year-old promised.

"All right. And we are here to help you." Sammy removed her black leather jacket. "Here." She placed the jacket over Fudge's shoulders. "I think you need this more than I do."

The jacket felt good. It felt nice and warm. "Thanks, Sammy."

Doc and Sammy stayed by Fudge's side for a very long time. They protected her like guardian angels. Even so, all too soon, Doc turned to Sammy and announced seriously, "We should go."

Sammy checked her watch. "Yeah. Good idea."

"You're leaving?" Fudge asked.

"Fudge", Doc took her hand, "you know we'll never really leave you."

"Yeah", Sammy added. "It's just that this storm's getting worse. So, it's only a matter of time before you-"

* * *

 **KA-BOOM!**

Fudge awoke with a jolt at the sound of thunder. She was still in the caverns without a jacket (though she could still feel the warmth and comfort of it!) and Doc and Sammy were nowhere to be seen.

"A dream", Fudge murmured to herself softly. "It was a dream." Then she stopped and smiled as she felt something. "But Doc and Sammy _are_ here."

Feeling the presence of her grandfather figure and half-sister filled Fudge with hope. She was cold and she was scared, but she knew that she most definitely wasn't alone. So, after a quick drink of the rainwater, she was back to sleep, feeling the warmth and comfort of Sammy's jacket all night long.

* * *

Meanwhile, over at the Cozy Cone, Lightning McQueen watched the rain pour and the storm rage on from out the window. Sally had made him a cup of tea. It wasn't something that he drank often, but it was just what he needed then. He stared out the window silently, occasionally sipping the tea. After a while, Sally joined him. He was still quiet for a moment when she did, but then he started to talk.

"I hate this weather", he informed his girlfriend quietly without looking at her. "This was just what it was like on the night of... you know..." He didn't want to use the words _the night of_ _the accident_ , but that was what he meant and Sally knew it.

"I know", she whispered comfortingly. "I know it's hard on you."

Lightning sighed heavily, still not looking at Sally. "No one else was there that night. No one will ever _really_ know what it was like for me."

Although he was glad that Sally hadn't seen the things he had, as soon as those words left his mouth, Lightning wished that the Porsche _had_ been there that night. She, like Sarge and Sheriff, was calm in any emergency. Not only would she have been able to help Fudge a lot better than he had, but she could've given _him_ the moral support he had desperately needed then.

In fact, now that he thought about it, it occurred to Lightning that had Sally- or Sarge or Sheriff- been there, Fudge's accident could've been avoided altogether. When Fudge had insisted on going for those last few laps, it was quite likely that one of those three would've been the voice of reason if they were there. They would've told her no, that they were going home; just like he should've done.

"Stickers?"

The stock car was brought back to Earth by the sound of his girlfriend's voice and looked at her for the first time. "Yeah?"

"I said, 'Are you okay?'"

He sighed. "I don't know, Sally."

"I know you're worried about Fudge", she sympathised gently. "I am too."

"She shouldn't be out there", Lightning murmured softly. "She can't walk, she must be cold and scared and in pain..." He trailed off. "Wherever she is, I just hope she's okay."

"I know", Sally repeated gently. "So do I. I'm sure everyone else wishes they could do more too." It was her turn to sigh. "We'll wake up first thing in the morning and keep looking."

McQueen nodded. Then he gave her a soft smile. "Yeah... I love you, Sally."

She returned the smile. "I love you too, Stickers."

* * *

On the other side of town, Luigi and Guido were also staring out the window at the wild weather.

"Oh, Guido!" Luigi exclaimed. "Where do you think she could be?"

"(I don't know)", he replied sadly. "(If I _knew_ , she would be here tonight instead of... wherever she is.)"

Luigi's eyes filled with tears at Guido's choice of words. "Do you think she is out in this weather? Or do you think she has found shelter?"

"(I don't know)", Guido repeated. "(I hope so. I hope she will be home soon.)"

"Me too", Luigi agreed. He gave another sigh. "This is all McQueen's fault! None of this would have happened if he had never told me to let her go."

Guido rolled his eyes. He was long used to Luigi's rants, blaming Lightning for their problems. He had mastered the art of tuning out ages ago.


	26. A Day in the Caverns

**In case you didn't notice, there is another chapter before this one.**

 **Chapter 26- A Day In the Caverns**

Even though the hole in the "ceiling" of the caverns wasn't all that big, Fudge felt the sunlight come flooding in early in the morning. That was good for a couple of reasons. For one thing, she didn't have to freak out at every single storm noise. For another, she was glad for the extra warmth, even though she could still feel Sammy's jacket.

Morning was here... Or was it? With the darkness of the storm and her irregular sleeping, she had no idea what time it was. In fact, she wasn't even sure what _day_ it was.

"Whatever day it is, I hope today's the day I get _found_ ", she mumbled to herself bitterly.

She had promised Doc that she wouldn't lose hope and she really wouldn't. Tail Light Caverns wasn't _that_ far away from town. Fudge was sure that someone would find her. She just hoped that someone would find her soon.

Despite the fact that the sunlight felt good and would probably make being stranded a little easier, there was one downside. Without the rain, she had no way of getting water. Unless... No. She couldn't. Well, it was either that or die of thirst. One... two... _three_!

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, _ow_!" she cried out as she attempted to roll over onto her side. Her back was hurting, her ribs were hurting, her elbow was hurting. Still, she was managing to do it slowly and painfully. She sure hoped that she was happy like this. She didn't think she could roll back over onto her back.

Gingerly, she stretched her arms out and tried to scoop up some of the water. God! This was the most amount of work her arms had done since the accident. She didn't manage to get an awful lot of water, but it would have to do. For now, anyway. Still, poor Fudge knew that if she wanted to survive, she was going to have to find a way to get more water and/or she would have to be found very soon.

* * *

Lightning McQueen was up with the sun that morning and was racing over to Flo's for some oil, so he could just go out and search for Fudge. In fact, he was gone before Sally even woke up. He felt his heart sink when he saw that Guido and Luigi were over at Flo's, already sipping their oil half-heartedly.

"Hey, Guido!" he called out.

Guido glanced up and gave him a small smile. " _Ciao_."

Luigi didn't even look up from his oil. He hadn't been drinking it all that much, but now, it was as if it was the most fascinating thing in the entire world.

"Sheriff... be here... soon", Guido announced.

"He said he was gonna call out a search team", Lightning commented. "Do you know what's happening there?"

"I think... he do that now", the forklift replied.

McQueen nodded. "Right..."

* * *

Although they wanted to see what the search team were like, Lightning, Luigi and Guido were all long gone by the time they arrived, desperate to find the missing teenager. They'd only stuck around long enough for Sheriff to distribute radios with instructions to report immediately if Fudge was found. It was a very comforting sight when they were out in the middle of the desert and a helicopter flew above them.

"Do you think the search crew will find Fudge?" Luigi wondered as he and Guido made their way through the desert.

"(I don't know. I hope so.)" Guido sighed. "(She has been missing for twenty-four hours now and still nothing.)"

"I know..." Tears formed in Luigi's eyes.

Unfortunately, when the entire town and the search team grouped at lunch, Fudge still wasn't found.

"It's wet and freezing cold!" Sally commented worriedly. "She'd catch pneumonia or something."

"Or worse, hypothermia", Sarge chimed in.

"We'll keep searchin' after lunch. All I care about is findin' that kid before she gets pneumonia or hypothermia", Sheriff announced. He turned to Finn and Holley. "Will you be stayin' for that? Or will you be goin' back to Sammy?

"Staying", Finn responded. "We feel bad about not being there with Sammy, but we've told her what's happened and she practically ordered us to stay and help look for Fudge. She just wants her sister to be found."

Everyone nodded glumly.

At that moment, a car came into view on the winding roads of the town. Seven years ago, that would've been a most welcome sight. However, on that day, nobody really felt like taking care of tourists. They had to take care of one of their own first.

"It's a taxi!" Lightning noted once the car got closer.

"Are there any humans on board?" Flo asked. "Or is it just a taxi?"

"I don't know! I can only see the taxi."

The answer came when the taxi pulled to a stop outside of Flo's. The door on one side opened. Out came RJ.

"I heard about Fudge!" he exclaimed hysterically in his southern accent. "Is it true?! Please tell me it's not true!"

"Well, what did you hear?" Lightning questioned.

"I heard she's missing! Is that true?!"

Nobody knew how he could've possibly known that Fudge was missing, but decided not to focus on that for the time being.

"Yeah", Sheriff admitted quietly. "It's true."

"How long has she been missing for?!" he demanded.

"Over twenty-four hours now."

"Oh, my God!" RJ choked on the words as he started crying.

"You wanna help us find Fudge?" Ramone asked.

"Of course." The eighteen-year-old managed to collect himself to respond. "She's my sister. She's family. Besides, I'm already facing the possibility of losing one sister this week. I couldn't bear it if I lost another."

"An extra person means Fudge might get found quicker", Lightning pointed out. "Why don't you come with me and Sally to search from the Rolling Hills to the Enchanted Forest? It's gonna be a long way and we'll need all the help we can get."

"Show me the way!" RJ shouted determinedly.

"All right. Let's go!"

* * *

No longer being worried about the storm was supposed to be a good thing. However, not having it to worry about just gave Fudge new worries. Getting found and returning home was obvious. Eating was another obvious one; she had no food with her and she was starving. Then there was the fear of getting into trouble for not only going off on her own and getting lost like she did in Tokyo, but also for breaking her glasses. They were relatively new and she'd broken them.

"We are not made of money!" she could hear Luigi's voice scold her in her mind. "You really need to be more careful, Fudge!"

The thought made her heart race. She couldn't stand having people mad at her or letting people down.

Fudge felt something cold pressed up against her. It was the necklace from Lightning. She remembered what he'd told her when he gave it to her on her birthday and was fastening it around her neck.

" _I had a very special reason for getting you this necklace._ This _is a wishing star. You wear this_ _and all your dreams'll come true._ "

Maybe it was meant to be that she was wearing it while she was stranded in the caverns. Maybe it was a sign that she should have hope. Someone would find her.

* * *

And that was exactly what Doc and Sammy told her when they visited her next.

"Someone will find you", Doc repeated comfortingly. "Don't think for a second that they ain't gonna do everythin' they can to find you."

"Yeah. RJ's here now."

"RJ?" Fudge repeated.

"That's right. All three of your brothers are here and so are the rest of your family. They're all looking for you."

* * *

It was hard for said brother to keep up with Lightning McQueen as he tore his way through the Rolling Hills, calling out Fudge's name. There didn't seem to be any point; they could see for miles. It was obvious that Fudge was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't understand why we haven't found her yet!" Lightning groaned. "She couldn't have gotten very far!" Then an old fear resurfaced. "Unless she's been taken..."

"Stickers, who could've taken her? We haven't seen anyone for days."

"Yeah, but what if someone just took her and left?!"

"Well, we don't know that just yet", Sally pointed out. "Let's not worry about it."

Lightning nodded, but that was a hell of a lot easier said than done.

"Should we start heading back?" RJ suggested. "Or look somewhere else? It's obvious she's not here. We'd be able to see her if she was."

"He's right", Sally agreed.

"No! We still need to search the Cool Pool of Tranquillity, Tail Light Caverns and Enchanted Forest!" Lightning insisted.

"All right." RJ nodded. "You know this area better than I do. Show me where we're going now."

"This way!" Sally called, Lightning too far ahead to hear them.

After seeing that Fudge wasn't at the Cool Pool of Tranquillity, the quartet found themselves at the entrance to Tail Light Caverns.

"Do you really think Fudge is going to be here?" RJ wondered.

"I don't know", Lightning admitted. "Fudge doesn't come here very often by herself, but we haven't looked here yet, so it's worth a try."

"I guess so."

So, all three of them ventured into the caverns, racing around and calling out Fudge's name.

* * *

Meanwhile, not too far away, Fudge lay fast asleep in her little ditch, completely unaware that anybody was close by, calling her name. She was missing exactly what she'd been waiting for! Now, they were going to miss _her_!

"I guess she's not here!" Lightning admitted defeat once they'd reached the other side.

"Don't worry, Stickers!" Sally tried to comfort him. "We're still going to search the Enchanted Forest. Maybe she'll be there."

"I doubt it", he mumbled, more to himself than anybody else.

"Let's go!" Sally led the way.

It was the sound of engines that stirred Fudge finally. Her eyes opened in a hurry and she began to get excited. Was someone there?! Was she finally going to be rescued? Surely, she would be now!

"Hello?!" she called out. "Hello?! Is someone there?! I need help! Someone, help me please!"

There was no answer. In fact, the sound of engines was getting quieter. Still, she could hear voices in the distance.

"So... You really don't think Fudge'll be in this Enchanted Forest?" a familiar voice- a quiet southern accent- asked. It was RJ! So, he _was_ here!

"I really don't", another familiar voice- Lightning's!- responded. "If you want the truth, I think someone might've taken her. It's the only way to explain how she's managed to get so far away."

"But I'm right here!" Fudge tried to shout, but she just didn't have the energy. "Come back, come back!"

Still, the engines continued to fade away.

"Come back!" she repeated, beginning to cry.

Great! They were so close and yet they were giving up on her! Now, what?!

* * *

A little bit further away, things weren't much better for Guido and Luigi. The two of them had spent pretty much the whole day searching for their daughter. At first, Luigi had been mumbling to himself about this whole thing was Lightning's fault and none of this would never have happened if he wasn't so irresponsible. Guido had tuned out once again.

"Is something wrong, Guido?" the Fiat questioned worriedly at one point.

Guido gave him a hard Look. "(You tell me! Our daughter is _missing_ and you are more worried about whose fault it is than finding her!)"

"(That is not true and you know it! I will do everything I can to find my daughter!)"

"(It does not look like it! Because all I have heard you talk about in the last fifteen minutes is how irresponsible McQueen is!)"

"(Okay. Why don't we both not talk for a while?!)" Luigi suggested.

"(That would be nice.)"

So, they did.

* * *

"So still, no one's had any luck finding her?" Lightning asked later on that day.

"Doesn't look that way", Sheriff replied. "But the search crews are still out there." He sighed deeply and added, "I think they're gonna call it a day soon, though."

"So, what is we gonna do now?" Mater wondered.

Another sigh came from Sheriff. "Well, if it's obvious that she ain't around here, we may have to look into the possibility she may have been kidnapped."

Everyone nodded sadly and fearfully. They sure hoped that Fudge hadn't been kidnapped. She had been kidnapped once before (and _almost_ kidnapped a time before that, even though she didn't know it!) and it had horrified her. If it had happened again, Fudge would probably never be the same.

* * *

Luckily, Fudge _hadn't_ been kidnapped. Still, that didn't mean that she was having an easy time. She was lying there, bawling her eyes out. She couldn't believe it! Lightning and RJ had come through earlier and they _still hadn't found her_! How could she have let that _happen_?! She tried to promise herself that she would stay awake for as long as she remained in the caverns, but in the middle of her vow, she was already drifting off...

* * *

...to find herself once again covered by Sammy's jacket.

"It's gonna be all right", Sammy assured her.

"What am I supposed to do now? Lightning was here and he didn't find me! They're not coming back! How am I gonna be found _now_?!"

Doc gave her a warm smile. "You just leave that to me, kiddo."

 **What's Doc gonna do? You'll find out soon...**

 **Just another reminder that if you have any questions you want to submit for the Q and A, please do.**

 **And, of course, please review.**


	27. Finding Fudge

**Well, I once again spoiled what happens in this chapter, didn't I? I need to stop doing that! XD Either way, I hope you enjoy.**

 **Chapter 27- Finding Fudge**

That night, it rained. It was really late. The entire town of Radiator Springs, the spies, the search crews and RJ were all gathered at Flo's. All of them had drinks in front of them, but very few were actually _drinking_ them. They were all losing hope.

"So, what are we gonna do now if she _has_ been kidnapped?" Lightning wondered.

"We'll probably have to get her photo on TV and see if anyone has any information on her whereabouts", Sheriff replied.

Everyone nodded silently.

"That reminds me", Sarge piped up. He glanced at RJ. "How did you know Fudge was missing?"

"It was in the newspaper", he explained. "Well, it didn't actually mention her name. It just said something about a missing thirteen-year-old girl in Radiator Springs. I just assumed..."

Again, they all nodded quietly.

Luigi glared at Lightning again. "What are _you_ going to do if Fudge has been kidnapped?!" he demanded angrily.

The stock car was taken aback. "What... What do you mean?!"

The Fiat's voice rose. "First, you almost kill my daughter! But then, that is not enough for you! You made me let my daughter go and _now_ she is missing!"

"You can't blame me for Fudge going missing!" Lightning cried defensively. "I said Fudge needed time alone! _Everyone else_ agreed with me!"

"Yes, but wherever she is, if she has gotten stuck somewhere, then maybe she would have been able to get out if she was not in that wheelchair. Because of _you_!"

All of them had seen Luigi seethe with rage every time he saw Lightning, but still, nobody was prepared for what happened next. Luigi lunged forward at Lightning like he did on the night of Fudge's accident. Only this time, nobody had time to stop him. He rammed into Lightning as hard as he could.

"Luigi!" just about everyone cried at once.

He ignored them all and rammed into him again! Lightning winced and cried out in pain. Luigi was about to ram into him a third time when Sarge, Sheriff and Guido lunged for _him_ and grabbed him.

"If you do that one more time, I will put you in the impound!" Sheriff informed him and it wasn't a threat; it was a promise. "This has gotta stop, Luigi!"

"We know this has been hard on you", Sarge added, "but you can't keep blaming McQueen for all this. Maybe Fudge's accident _was_ avoidable, but _this_ was no one's fault!"

Luigi just grunted in disgust and stormed off.

"You all right, McQueen?" Sheriff wanted to know.

"I'll be fine!" he assured the squad car.

Ramone studied the race car's sides. "You got a lotta nasty dents there, man", he observed. "You should probably get those fixed up. I can do it right now if you want."

Lightning nodded. "Yeah. I probably should." Even though it was late, it wasn't like he was going to be able to sleep with everything that was going on. "Thanks, Ramone."

* * *

It was nearly one o'clock in the morning by the time McQueen returned to the Cozy Cone Motel. Even with all of his dents and scratches taken care of, he was still feeling pretty sore. So, he was grateful when Sally provided him with some painkillers when she returned from showing RJ to his cone for the evening.

"They're the drowsy ones", she informed him. "I thought you might need something to help you sleep."

He gave her a smile. "Thanks, Sally."

Luckily, the painkillers worked like magic. It wasn't long before Lightning was fast asleep.

* * *

It was just like old times. Lightning found himself dreaming that he was racing by Willy's Butte with Doc. Lap after lap, their speed increased, they turned right to go left, they overtook each other. After what felt like a long time, the two of them came to a stop.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again", Doc declared, sounding out of breath. "You got a lot of stuff, kid."

"Thanks, Doc. And you didn't do too bad either. You know, for an old-timer."

Doc just laughed.

"So, are we gonna head back to town?"

"Not just yet", Doc replied. "There's somewhere else I wanna go first."

"Really? Where?" Lightning wanted to know.

Without a word, Doc started down the dirt track and gestured for Lightning to follow.

"Doc!" Lightning called, trying to keep up with the older car. "Where are we going?!"

Doc didn't answer. He didn't even look back.

"Doc!" Lightning chased him. "Doc!"

Since when did Lightning struggle to keep up with Doc? That had never happened before. Oh, well. Doc knew where he was going. Lightning didn't.

"Hey, Doc! Where are we going?!" Lightning tried again as they drove over the Rolling Hills.

Doc still didn't answer.

"Doc!" the race car shouted for the third time as he saw the Hudson Hornet was about to enter Tail Light Caverns. "Will you _please_ just tell me where we're going?!"

It was as if the older race car couldn't hear the younger. He just disappeared into the caverns. Lightning followed him.

As soon as he entered, he was unable to see Doc.

"Wow..." he murmured softly at the sight of the glowing caverns, even though he'd seen them before. "This place is beautiful! Hey, Doc! Where are you?"

The only response he got was his echoes. Where did Doc go? He seemed to have vanished.

However, after what felt like a long time, he heard Doc's voice. "Look to your right!"

"What?" Lightning did as he was told and he saw something: a wheelchair. He made a beeline towards it.

"Lightning!" a voice cried out. "Help me!"

McQueen knew exactly who that was and rushed over to help her.

"Fudge!" he sighed with relief.

* * *

Lightning awoke with a jolt at the sound of thunder. A dream. It was just a dream. But what if it was trying to tell him something? What if _Doc_ was trying to tell him something? He was going back to Tail Light Caverns! He would've gone right then if it hadn't been for the drowsy effects of the painkillers overtaking him once again.

* * *

In the morning, everyone, except Lightning, who was still asleep, gathered at Flo's. Nobody mentioned Luigi's behaviour the night before. There didn't seem to be any need to. They just parked there in silence for a long time before Sheriff spoke.

"It's been over forty-eight hours now. We're gonna have to really expand our search area. If she still ain't found today, it may be time to start searchin' into New Mexico and California."

"Right..." several of the others murmured quietly.

"We'll find her", Sheriff assured them all.

Nobody looked convinced.

* * *

Hours later, Lightning groaned. He hadn't felt this physically unwell since Fudge was still in her coma and he was so depressed that he got drunk. His eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. Finally, he opened his eyes and peered at the clock. It was 10:08!

"S**t!" he groaned.

He grabbed his radio off the desk and raced out of the Cozy Cone into the pouring rain as fast as he could and found a quiet and empty town (at least that meant Sheriff couldn't give him a hard time about speeding!), which wasn't surprising. Everyone else must have already started searching for the day. He had to get going! He had to search Tail Light Caverns as fast as possible! He had to find Fudge!

As Lightning made his way towards Tail Light Caverns, full of determination, he couldn't help but worry. What if he was wrong? He might've just had a dream about finding Fudge there because that was where he'd searched the day before and he was hoping to find her. Then again, Doc had visited him in his dream. Fudge had always said that she had dreams about Doc whenever she got sick or hurt. Everyone had pointed out to her that this was Doc watching over her to make sure she was okay. Maybe this was Doc's way of helping him help Fudge. Anyway, even if he was wrong, it didn't change anything. He had to try!

 _This is it_! he told himself once he arrived at his destination. This was the moment of truth. Taking a few deep breaths, he ventured into the caverns once again.

"Fudge!" he hollered as loud as he could every few seconds. "Fudge!"

* * *

Close by, Fudge lay in her little ditch, singing quietly. It was a song she remembered hearing, but she didn't know where.

That was when she heard it. The sound of an engine was getting closer, not fading away. Not only that, a familiar voice made her heart leap.

"Fudge! Fudge!"

"Lightning?!" the thirteen-year-old responded. "Is that you?"

When Lightning first heard it, he was sure he imagined it, but it was real, all right.

"Fudge!" he cried with relief. "Oh, thank Chrysler! Yeah, it's me! Listen, sweetie, I can't see you. Just keep talking to me till I find you, all right? I'm gonna try and follow your voice."

"What do you want me to talk about?" Fudge wanted to know.

"Well, for starters, why don't you tell me what happened?" he suggested. "How'd you get stuck here?"

Fudge recounted the whole story of wanting to clear her head and how she fell out of her wheelchair and down the ditch.

By the end of her story, Lightning had figured out where her voice was coming from. When he finally peered over the ditch to see her, both of them started crying.

"Fudge!" he exclaimed. "Oh, I am so glad to see you!"

"I'm so glad to see _you_!" she wept. "I heard you yesterday, but then you left! I didn't think you would come back!"

"You knew I was here yesterday?" the race car asked incredulously through his tears. "Why didn't you call out to me?"

"I _tried_! I was asleep, but then I heard you leaving and I called you, but I guess you didn't hear me! I thought I'd _never_ get found! You didn't think I was here!" She cried harder.

"Ssh, ssh, ssh!" Lightning whispered in his most soothing voice (which was _very_ soothing!). "It's all right, Fudge-O! I'm here now! I'm gonna get help." He frowned at his radio. "I guess this won't really work in here. Fudge, I'm really sorry, but I'm gonna have to leave you for just a sec. I promise I'll come right back."

"All right", she murmured softly.

* * *

A matter of minutes later, the rest of the RS gang- except for Sheriff- plus RJ gathered at Flo's, out of the rain, to check in with each other. They were all pretty sure everyone would have the same answer.

"Haven't seen her", everyone reported one by one.

"Where could she be?" Luigi wondered, shaking his hood.

"I don't know, honey." Flo came forward and gave him a hug.

"Where's Sheriff, man?" Ramone wondered, looking around to find an absence of the squad car.

"I don't know", Fillmore replied. "Guess he's still searchin', man."

"He'll be here soon", Sarge added, although he had no idea.

As if on cue, Sheriff came into view. Only, he didn't stop at Flo's. He just raced past. He seemed to be in a hurry.

"Sheriff!" Mater called. "What's goin' on?!"

The police car didn't answer. He just kept going. He was followed by several members of the search crew.

"What's goin' on?!" Mater repeated to them.

Only one of the forklifts stopped. It was Brian, the head of the search crew. "Mr. McQueen's just radioed!" he reported breathlessly. "He's found her! She's alive! She's going to be fine!"

Immediately, the entire town gasped.

"Really?!"

"Are you serious?!"

None of them seemed _quite_ ready to believe it. Even so, both Guido and Luigi started crying with relief.

"We're on our way to go and get her now", Brian went on. "She's going to have to go to hospital in the helicopter."

"Let us come with you!" Luigi pleaded.

Brian agreed to let the two Italians come. The others offered to stay behind. They didn't want Fudge to be overwhelmed. Besides, they could see Fudge later. Right now, knowing that she'd been found alive was enough.

* * *

It felt to Fudge like Lightning was gone for a long time. When he returned, he announced, "It's gonna be all right, Fudge. I just spoke to Sheriff and the search team. They're on their way!"

"Okay."

Lightning sighed. "All right. Well, it's kinda cold in here. What do you say we get out of here? We'll wait for Sheriff outside."

"How am I gonna get out of here?" Fudge wondered.

"I'm gonna pick you up", her brother answered as if it was obvious.

I'll spare you all the details. Just know that it took quite a long time, but after what felt like an eternity, Lightning was in the ditch with her and had pulled her up onto his hood. Then it seemed to take even longer for him to get out with her.

"All right. Come on." Lightning grabbed her wheelchair and carried her out the way he came.

"Are Luigi and Guido mad at me?" Fudge wanted to know. She was still crying.

"No. Of course not. Why would they be mad at you?"

"Because I got stuck here and also because I... because I... I broke my glasses!"

"It's all right", McQueen assured her. "Luigi and Guido don't blame you for going missing" (he didn't mention that Luigi blamed _him_ instead) "and they're gonna be so happy to see you, I guarantee the broken glasses will be the last thing on their mind."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Even so, she was a little nervous when she exited the caverns and found Sheriff, a bunch of forklifts she didn't recognise and Luigi and Guido. Although, her fear melted away as soon as both her fathers rushed forward in tears and began kissing her.

"Fudgie!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Are you okay?!" Luigi demanded.

"I'm okay", Fudge assured them. "I mean, I'm cold and hungry and kind of thirsty. I'm kind of sore... but I'm okay. Really!" she insisted.

"You're a little scraped up", Brian noted, checking her over. "Luckily, there doesn't seem to be much else wrong with you. You don't even seem dehydrated."

"Well, I _did_ drink the rainwater that was close by", Fudge explained.

Everyone listening seemed impressed by that. Still, Guido and Luigi continued to fire question after question at their daughter, wanting to know how she'd gotten stuck and how Lightning had been unable to find her there the day before.

"Guys, I think Fudge is a little overwhelmed right now", Lightning came to her rescue. "She's already answered these questions for me and I promise I'll explain later."

As he'd done a million times before, Luigi glowered at him, but said nothing.

"Can I go home now?" Fudge demanded.

"Sorry, kiddo", Sheriff replied. "The only place you're goin' is the hospital."

"The _hospital_?!" she whined. " _No_! Why?!"

"We just want to have you checked over", Brian explained. "You've had a rough couple of days and we want to make sure you're okay."

Fudge pouted, but didn't say anything.

"Hey, Fudge-O!" Lightning cried abruptly. "You're gonna take a ride in a helicopter! Doesn't that sound fun?! Remember when I got you a ride in the Dinoco helicopter?"

The human girl smiled. This was something Lightning had often done ever since she met him. Whenever she didn't want to do anything, he would come up with some way to make it sound like a lot more fun than it really was. That was one of a million reasons why he was the best, nicest, coolest brother in the whole wide world.

Brian took Fudge from Lightning and carried her all the way to John the rescue helicopter, who was waiting just outside of the caverns. He lay her down on a stretcher inside the helicopter.

"I'll take her wheelchair back to town", Lightning offered. "And I'll let them know Fudge is going to the hospital."

Sheriff nodded. "Thanks, son."

The race car sped off.

Fudge was the only one who went in the helicopter with the search crew. She wished that Lightning, Luigi, Guido and Sheriff could've gone with her. However, in the end, it didn't really matter. Not even five minutes into the helicopter flight, she was fast asleep.

 **Luigi finally lost it at Lightning! Will they _ever_ get their friendship back on track? I guess you're just gonna have to wait and see!**

 **By the way, Brian the search forklift and John the search helicopter are named after John Lasseter and Brian Fee, the directors of the _Cars_ movies!**


	28. Sammy!

**Just before we begin, I want to thank you guys so much for the many awesome Christmas/birthday wishes. Those made me very happy. I had a very nice Christmas and birthday and I hope you all did too. And Foxy Hedgehog, to answer your question, I have just turned 20. That makes me feel so old! XD**

 **Well, I may be old, but I'm still young at heart, which is why I write _Cars_ fanfiction, so let's read another chapter of _Ride_ , shall we? (Even though this story is not for kids!)**

 **Chapter 28- Sammy!**

Fudge felt a lot better when she awoke. She felt warmer, she felt cleaner, she felt extremely refreshed. Best of all, though, the entire RS gang, RJ, Finn and Holley were crowded around her bed.

"Hey, Fudge!" nearly everyone greeted her in unison softly.

A slow smile spread across her face. "Hi, guys..."

"How you feeling?" Sally questioned.

"I'm okay", the thirteen-year-old assured them, feeling a little bit of déjà vu from when she awoke in the hospital when she broke her leg for the first time. She braced herself for all the questions about where she'd been. Yet nobody said anything. Lightning must've filled everyone in like he said he would. "When do you think I'll be able to come home?" She was sick of hospitals.

"The doctor wants to come and see you first", Luigi explained, coming over and taking her hand, "but it may be as soon as tonight."

"Really?"

"Maybe not, though", Luigi pointed out. "Don't get your hopes up. Wait until the doctor comes in to see you, okay?"

"Okay..."

Luckily, the doctor _did_ say Fudge could go home later that night. Fudge got driven home in Mater's truck bed. The girl slept most of the way there, but woke up upon their return to town, feeling a lot better. She stayed awake just long enough to eat some soup that Flo had heated up for her. Then she slept all through the night.

* * *

"Hey, Fudge!" Flo called out, entering the girl's room the next morning. "Are you hungry?"

"Starved... Why?" Fudge questioned, even though she knew why. The former show car had her breakfast.

"Do you feel up to eating some pancakes?"

The human girl grinned. Those weren't just any pancakes! They were the delicious, _awesome_ chocolate chip pancakes with ice cream and strawberries! Flo only ever made it for her on special occasions. Although being in the hospital would've been a special occasion, most of the time, Fudge was too sick to eat them.

"Thanks, Flo!"

"No problem, honey! Now, eat up!"

Fudge thought it would be a little harder to eat without her glasses. She couldn't see properly where the food was. Luckily, Flo touched it up against her lips every time. Just as Fudge was finishing up her breakfast, Guido and Luigi came in.

" _Buon giorno_ , Fudgie!" they greeted her warmly in unison.

" _Buon giorno_!" she returned the greeting.

"We have something for you", Luigi informed her.

"You do?"

"Yes." Luigi pulled out a pair of glasses and put them on her head. "Is this better?"

She nodded, blinking as she adjusted to the clarity of her surroundings. "Much better. Thanks."

Luigi smiled and gave her a kiss.

Lightning came by later and things started to seem a little more normal, to how they'd been all year, anyway; not normal to the rest of her life. She lay in bed in a T-shirt and underwear as she and Lightning watched their final disc of _Friends_. Later on, they talked about their experiences while she was missing.

"Sammy and Doc came to me in a dream when I was in the caverns", Fudge recalled. "They were there a lot."

"Doc was there with me too", Lightning informed her. "He was the one who told me to go back to Tail Light Caverns to find you."

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"I was worried nobody would find me and he said he'd take care of it."

Lightning gave her a small smile. "He always did."

The others came by to visit her and talk to her too. Even though Fudge still wished things could go _entirely_ back to normal, she knew that this was a baby step and was grateful for it nonetheless.

* * *

On Saturday morning, Fudge was back in the hospital and at nine o'clock, she closed her eyes, fearing what was going on with Sammy. The teenager tried to remember all of the good things about her sister. That was what Luigi had told her to do when Doc had died; try to remember all of the many good memories she had of him and not the bad few at the end. As a result, her mind travelled back to London when Fudge was in the River Thames, trying to flee from the Lemons...

" _I can't do this!" Fudge had shrieked hysterically into the radio. "I can't! I wanna go_ _home! I want Luigi and Guido and Lightning..."_

"Fudge _", Sammy's calm voice came through the radio. "_ What's your favourite movie?"

 _Confusion took over Fudge's face. "What?"_

"Come on. Tell me. What's your favourite movie?"

"Shrek 2 _", she answered, breathing a little slower._

"I _love_ that movie! _"_

" _You do?"_

"Sure I do. Hey, how about this? When we get this mission done, we'll watch _Shrek 2_ together. Does that sound good? We'll make popcorn and watch the movie."

" _That sounds fun", Fudge admitted, not thinking that far ahead just yet._

"Okay. Then that's what we'll do."

* * *

 _And they did. Not as soon as the mission was over. In December that year, Finn,_ _Holley and Sammy returned to Radiator Springs. That was when the two of them watched_ _the movie. Mater and Holley were out on a date, but Sally, Lightning, Luigi, Guido and Finn_ _joined them._

" _No, no, no!" Sammy cried when Mongo, the giant gingerbread man, died._

" _This is the most depressing part of the movie", Lightning commented._

" _Yeah! I really liked that gingerbread man." Sammy flopped back on the couch._

" _Me too", Fudge agreed, her mouth full of popcorn. She was snuggled on the couch in her_ _pyjamas next to Sammy and she had her foot stretched out to press up against Lightning's_ _side._

 _When the movie ended, nobody was really sure what to do. However, after about_ _fifteen minutes, Sammy grinned._

" _Well!" she announced with a flourish, rummaging through the backpack that lay at her_ _feet. "We've seen a good movie! Now, what do you say we watch a dumb one?!" She held_ _up_ Birdemic: Shock and Terror.

" _Uh... Where's the fun in that?" Fudge wondered._

" _We can laugh at it, throw popcorn at the screen when it gets especially dumb..."_

" _That sounds fun!" Lightning declared._

" _Yeah, it does!" Fudge agreed, sounding much more enthusiastic._

 _And what do you know? A few hours later, they were all laughing hysterically at the utter_ _ridiculousness of the movie they were watching. It had horrible special effects, the_ _cinematography of a toddler, constantly cutting out audio, wooden actors, a painfully slow_ _plot progression and zero logic, but they were all unable to stop laughing._

* * *

"Hey, Fudge-O!"

Fudge was brought back to Earth by the sound of Lightning's voice. "Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Just thinking."

"About Sammy."

"Yeah... How'd you know?"

"I kinda guessed. I know you've been worried about her."

"Yeah..."

"How do you feel?"

"I'm okay", she assured her brother. "Yeah, I'm just worried about her and I hope she's gonna be okay."

"Well, Finn and Holley said when she's ready and you're ready, they'll take you to London to see her. She's starting chemotherapy."

"Okay..." Fudge murmured, snuggling deeper into the sheets. She feared seeing her sister in that state, but she did want to see her.

"Something wrong?" Lightning questioned, concerned.

"Yeah... Just a little cold." Fudge thought for a moment before a slow smile spread across her face. "Lightning?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you could do me a favour? Please?"

"Sure. Anything."

"I think I'm gonna take a nap now... Do you think you could get something for me from home? I know it's a long way just for one thing, but-"

"No, no!" he assured her hurriedly. "Of course. Of course I'll get you something. Whatever you need."

Fudge told him what she wanted.

"Really?" he asked with a smile. Normally, Fudge was really bad at picking up people's emotions and expressions, but even she could tell that even though he was trying to hide it, Lightning was thrilled that she had asked him for the thing she did.

"Yeah."

"All right. Well, if you're gonna take a nap, I'll go now. I promise I'll be back soon, all right? See you soon." The race car kissed her.

"Love you!"

"I love you too, Fudge-O!" He gave her another kiss, stroked her hair and whispered soothingly, "Ssh... Go back to sleep."

* * *

The following morning, Lightning was practically bouncing with energy as they all headed towards Fudge's hospital room.

"Is everything all right?" Sheriff asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm great!" Lightning assured him hurriedly. "I'm great, you're great, Fudge is great, we're _all_ great!"

"Stickers, what is _with_ you?" Sally wondered. She looked around at the others. "He's been acting this way ever since last night. I can tell he's got a secret."

"Longer than that", Sarge corrected her. "Remember how he went back to town yesterday to get something for Fudge. Then he came back with a bag and wouldn't tell or show us what was in it."

"I hope he has done nothing else to Fudge", Luigi deadpanned.

"Let's just go and see Fudge", the race car suggested.

As soon as they saw Fudge, all of them got the shocks of their lives. Guido and Luigi couldn't believe even they had never noticed what was different about her. The thirteen-year-old was no longer wearing just a T-shirt and underwear. She was wearing her light blue flannelette pyjamas that had clouds and rainbows printed all over them.

"Hi!" she greeted them all, giggling.

"Fudgie!" Luigi cried, parking by his daughter's bedside. "You look so different!" He was too nice to come right out and _say_ it.

Fudge got the feeling everyone would be like that too, so she decided to be the one to say it. "I know! I've got pants on!"

"That's wonderful!" Sally proclaimed sincerely.

"Yes it is, angel!" Luigi agreed, giving his daughter a kiss.

As everyone chimed in with similar comments, Fudge beamed. Who would've thought simply putting some pants on would make her family proud? She used to do it every single day! Now, she hadn't done it in six months; it was weird having pants on and having something besides a cast or bedsheets covering her legs.

"(You are looking so much better now)", Guido remarked.

"He is right!" Luigi kissed her again.

"I'm just hoping someone else gets better now", Fudge commented sadly.

"I am sure she will", both of her fathers assured her in both English and Italian.

"I hope so..."

* * *

"It's going to be all right, Fudge", Finn assured her as he wheeled her towards Sammy's room. "It's still Sammy."

"I know, but she's going to look different... I'm a little afraid."

"That's normal." Holley nodded. "But she's still your sister. She needs you."

"Yeah. You're right", the human girl admitted.

Still, that didn't make things easy when she saw Sammy lying there. Fudge felt the same mixture of shock, sadness and fear that her family felt seeing her after the accident. Sammy looked a lot thinner and weaker. On top of that, she had absolutely no hair left. All of her beautiful rainbow hair was gone. It was just so strange seeing Sammy like that; she looked so sick. So horrible.

Despite that, her face lit up when she saw her sister. "Fudge!" Her voice was hoarse.

"Hey..." Fudge began nervously.

"How you doing?"

"I'm doing okay. I start physical therapy soon. I guess the most important question is, 'How are you?'"

"S**t", Sammy muttered. "I'm feeling like s**t. But I'm gonna get better, I promise."

"How do you know?"

"Come on!" Sammy let out a little laugh. "I'm tough. I've beaten bad guys. I can beat something as evil as cancer."

Fudge didn't know how to answer.

"Trust me!" Sammy urged.

"I just want you to get better..." Fudge's eyes filled with tears.

"I will!" Sammy insisted. "It may just take a while. Like your recovery." She paused. "In fact, I've been inspired by your incredible fight after your accident. I ain't gonna give up because _you_ never did."

"I don't know about never..."

"Well, you're going great", her sister informed her. "Promise me you won't give up. As long as _you_ don't give up, _I_ won't either."

Fudge nodded. "I promise."

"Thanks, Fudge. That makes me feel so much better."

 **Interesting fact: The _Shrek_ movies were my favourite movies before _Cars 2_ came out when I was eleven and I returned to my _Cars_ obsession from when I was six!**

 **I haven't seen _Birdemic_ , though, but I have seen JonTron's video on it and that's where I got the "cinematography of a toddler" line from.**

 **Were there any more questions for the Q and A? There are only two chapters left, so the next chapter's gonna be the last call.**


	29. Big Victories and Little Victories

**Happy New Year! How has 2020 been treating you all so far? Well, I guess you can't really answer that when it's still really early. 2020 has gotten off to a pretty good start for me, but 2019 ended with a miracle. My cat disappeared a week before Christmas and I didn't think she'd make it (she's old, has kidney problems and it's been really hot where I live lately). However, on New Year's Eve, through Facebook and phone calls, we managed to track her down at a nearby shelter and bring her home. So, I'm really happy!**

 **Anyway, I haven't updated since last year *does a sarcastic laugh until I choke*. So, I decided to bring you an update, which I'm hoping will make your year a little bit better already.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

 **Chapter 29- Little Victories and Big Victories**

"How did she go today?" Lightning wanted to know when Luigi, Guido and a sleeping Fudge arrived at Flo's one evening in late September.

Luigi made a face at him (even after eight months, he was _still_ mad at him!) before lighting up and answering. "Fudgie did an excellent job today! She did not even _cry_ today! She is so close to standing up on her own!"

"That's great!" everyone cheered. "Good for her!"

"I know it is hard on her", Luigi went on. "She wants to do this, she wants to start walking again, but it is very painful. And it is so hard to see her like that. That is why I hope she starts walking again."

"I'm sure she does too", Sarge agreed.

"But what if she can't?" Ramone wondered.

"Well, we'll help her as much as we can, right?" Lightning asked rhetorically.

"Yeah, sure we will, man", Ramone assured him hurriedly. "It's just... How will _she_ take it?"

An uncomfortable silence followed.

"Well, right now, she is getting so close! She can nearly stand up on her own!" Luigi repeated. "Let's not worry about that just yet."

"Right." Sarge nodded. "Let's just take this one day at a time."

"And no matter what", Sally chimed in, "we're all _very_ proud of her for how far she's come."

"Absolutely", every single one of the others agreed without even a nanosecond of hesitation.

"Still", Lightning went on, "I wish there was something we could do to make this a little easier for her."

"I know one thing you can do to make things easier for her", Luigi informed the race car.

"What?" he questioned, eager to help. "Anything!"

"You can go back in time and stop yourself from causing the accident!"

Everyone sighed.

"Luigi, this has gotta stop!" Sally insisted for the millionth time that year. "It was an _accident_! Stickers would _never_ do something like this on purpose."

"That is not the point!" Luigi argued. "The point is, whether or not it was an accident, it _still_ _happened_ and it happened because of _him_!"

Everyone sighed again. They couldn't help wondering if Luigi would ever come around and forgive Lightning.

* * *

While nothing had really changed with Luigi and Lightning, things had improved for Fudge a lot lately. She did spend a lot of time in bed in her pyjamas, but she still got dressed regularly. She spoke to Sammy fairly often, both on the phone and in person. This, and how well she was going with her physical therapy improved her mood significantly. Then _that_ improved the rest of her family's moods as well. It was fantastic, Fudge thought, to have so many wonderful people to have her support her with such a difficult challenge. Although sometimes, she _did_ end up forgetting that; like the day before...

"Owww!" Fudge cried out in pain as she tried to stand up. "Ow, ow, _owww_!"

"It is okay, Fudgie!" Luigi assured her comfortingly. "It is okay!"

"You're doing fine", Dr. Cartwright, the woman in charge of her physical therapy, added.

"I can't do this, I can't do this!" she wailed.

"Yes you can", Dr. Cartwright insisted. "You _can_ do it, Fudge."

"No, I can't, I can't!" she wept. After months of this same conversation over and over again, why wouldn't anybody else just accept that she _couldn't do this?!_

"Come on, Fudgie!" Luigi cried. "You were doing fine! Please just try again!"

"No!" She slumped down in her wheelchair as much as she could. "I'm not doing it again! I _can't_ do it!"

No amount of effort would get Fudge out of her wheelchair again. She just sat there, bawling her eyes out for twenty minutes before Luigi and Guido took her home.

* * *

Lightning came by to see her while she was lying in bed with the radio on, listening to the night rain and she told him how the day went.

"I told them I can't do it!" she exclaimed, tears rushing down her face. She was obviously frustrated. "But they just kept saying, 'Yes you can, yes you can!'"

"You know _why_ they did that?" Lightning quizzed her.

"Why?!" Fudge demanded.

"Because you _can_ do it, Fudge!"

"No I can't, Lightning! That's what I'm saying!" She cried harder.

"Right", Lightning agreed comfortingly. "Now, listen to what _I'm_ saying. You _can_ do this. We all believe you can. Right now, the only thing that's stopping you is you. You're _telling_ yourself you _can't_ do it, so you _don't_ do it."

"But it's _hard_!" the human girl insisted as the song "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat came on the radio. She was crying so hard it took Lightning a second to figure out what she'd said.

"I know it's hard. I never said it wasn't. But just because it's hard, that doesn't mean it's impossible. Remember how scared you were in London? You were really scared to confront Axlerod and tell the Queen what he'd done. You still did it."

Fudge couldn't help smiling. "I did, didn't I", she sniffled.

Lightning returned the smile. "You sure did. And we're all so proud of you for that." He gave her a kiss.

Things were quiet for a moment while Lightning stared at her. She still looked fragile, just as she had done all year. Even so, he couldn't help himself. He reached out and gave her a hug. Fudge closed her eyes, smiled and returned the hug, listening to "Bubbly" and the comforting rain. After this long without one, getting a hug was the best feeling in the world.

"I love you", she murmured softly.

"I love you too, sweetie", he echoed just as softly. He stroked her hair and kissed her gently once again.

* * *

Later on that night, Fudge's watch started beeping. With a grin, she answered the call, knowing exactly who it was.

"Sammy!" she exclaimed as her sister's face appeared on the screen in front of her. She looked a little better than the last time Fudge saw her, but not by much.

" _Hey, kiddo! How's it going?_ "

"Physical therapy's tough", the teen sighed. "How are things with you?"

" _Still not great_ ", Sammy admitted. " _I'm startin' another round of chemo tomorrow. But I'm a_ _little better. Just a little._ "

Fudge pondered over all the times she felt just a little better. "I guess that's still something."

" _Damn right it is!_ " Sammy agreed. " _I told you I've been inspired by how far you've come._ _Things suck for me right now, but I'm hopeful._ "

"Yeah." Fudge nodded, managing a small smile. "Me too. For both of us."

" _Remember your promise? As long as_ you _don't give up,_ I _won't give up_ ", Sammy reminded her.

"I never said I would give up."

"But all we've heard from her this afternoon is how it's too hard and she can't do it!" Lightning chimed in from behind her. He'd been getting out a change of clothes for Fudge to sleep in that night.

"Damn!" Fudge groaned. "I forgot you were here!"

All three of them laughed.

"Hey, Sammy!" Lightning added. "I heard you talking to Fudge. Just know Radiator Springs is thinking about you a lot."

" _Thanks, McQueen. I really appreciate that. I think about Radiator Springs a lot too. I'm_ _hoping to visit soon._ "

"You are?" Fudge asked in surprise.

" _Yeah. The doctors said once I'm well enough, I can return to the States for my recovery. I_ _wanna stay in Thomasville- or the closest hospital- so, I can be with my family. But I'll_ _definitely try to visit Radiator Springs soon to see my other family._ "

"I hope that can be soon."

" _I'm sure it will be_ ", Sammy insisted. " _Just remember: your physical therapy is tough, but_ _you_ can _do it. I've seen how brave and strong you can be._ "

"Yeah..." Fudge agreed, recalling the missions she'd helped out on. "And I've seen how brave and strong _you_ can be too."

" _Exactly! Keep that in mind and I'll be back in Radiator Springs before you know it!_ "

"Yeah, and we'll both be back to tractor tipping with Mater", Fudge muttered unenthusiastically.

Sammy cracked up. " _How_ is _Mater?_ "

The two talked about the latest happenings around Radiator Springs for about twenty minutes, but Fudge was pretty quiet as she got ready for bed that night. She was pondering over things Lightning and Sammy had told her. She made up her mind. She was just going to power through. She was going to be strong. She was going to walk again!

* * *

Two days later, that all fell apart.

"Fudge, you've accomplished so much this year", Dr. Cartwright pointed out when the girl started up with the tears again. "You've come a long way since you first arrived at this hospital. Come on, Fudge. You can do it."

Once again, the song that was playing on the radio seemed appropriate: "Keep On Movin'" by Five.

Slowly, Fudge used the wooden rods in front of her to attempt to pull herself up to her feet. Her back hurt, her hips hurt, her legs hurt. She was expecting herself to fall over as she did many times before, but she didn't. She was doing it. She was _standing up!_

"I'm doing it!" she exclaimed in disbelief, more to herself than anybody. "I can't believe I'm actually doing it!"

"Well, you are!" Dr. Cartwright stated the obvious brightly.

"You are doing a very good job, angel!" Luigi added proudly, kissing her cheek noisily.

"(Go, Fudge! You can do it!)" Guido cheered. He was filming the whole thing on his camera. Both he and Luigi felt it would be important to have a record of this.

"Can..." Fudge began. "Can I try taking a step?"

Dr. Cartwright nodded. "If you feel ready for it."

Tentatively, Fudge lifted her foot. For a couple of seconds, she left it hovering in the air awkwardly. Then, slowly, carefully, she placed it back down in front of her.

"Ow!" she cried out, wincing.

For a moment, she felt like getting back in her wheelchair and staying there, but then she remembered what Lightning had said. If she could expose the Allinol scandal and save the world, then she could take a couple of measly steps.

That was followed by a recollection of her family from Radiator Springs, Sammy, RJ ,Finn and Holley. Who had all inspired her to never give up.

Then she remembered what Sammy- her wonderful, caring, strong half-sister, who was fighting breast cancer- had said to her so many times.

" _I ain't gonna give up because_ you _never did... Promise me you won't give up. As long as you_ _don't give up, I won't either._ "

Fudge wasn't about to let Sammy- or herself- give up. Slowly, carefully, she lifted her other foot and put it down in front of her. Then she did it again. And again. And again.

"I'm doing it!" She had the biggest smile on her face. "I'm walking!"

"Yes, yes!" Luigi cheered.

"You're doing an amazing job, Fudge!" Dr. Cartwright chimed in.

* * *

Fudge didn't know it at the time, but the entire RS gang planned to surprise the thirteen-year-old by coming to see her in action. They had all agreed that she could do with all the support she could get.

"Are you sure you know where to go, Stickers?" Sally wanted to confirm.

"Sure I'm sure, Sally", he assured her. "I've been here before."

"That doesn't necessarily mean you know the way", she pointed out with a teasing smile.

"Yeah, man", Fillmore chimed in. "I know I've been to Carstock, but all I really remember about it is ending up in the county impound."

Everyone stared at him.

"What?" Fillmore asked innocently.

"Yeah, it's right in h-" Lightning stopped short and gasped. "Oh, my gosh!"

"What?!" everyone else demanded.

"Look!" McQueen pointed into the window and they all crowded around to look.

"No _way_!" Sally exclaimed.

"Dad-gum!" Mater breathed.

"Far out!" That was Fillmore.

"Oh, my God!" Flo added.

"Look at 'er go!" Ramone chimed in.

They opened the door and when Fudge glanced up to see her family come in, her already massive grin expanded. "Hi, guys!" she greeted them ecstatically.

"Hey, Fudge-O!" Lightning exclaimed. "Wow! Look at you!"

"I know!" Her face was as red as a tomato.

"Way to go, kiddo!" Sheriff congratulated her.

"We're all so proud of you, soldier!" Sarge put in.

"See, Fudge?" Lightning grinned at her. "I _told_ you you could do it. We _all_ did."

"Well, you were all smarter than me", the human girl admitted as she returned to her wheelchair. "I need to stop for a little bit now", she explained apologetically. "I'll be ready to try again in a sec."

"That's fine", Dr. Cartwright assured her. "You're just taking a break. You're not giving up."

Indeed she wasn't giving up. Two minutes later, she was up on her feet again, holding onto the wooden rods as she edged her way forward slowly. The cars cheered her on, Guido filmed and all of them had tears in their eyes, including Dr. Cartwright.

"I got even farther that time!" Fudge cheered once she was back in her wheelchair.

"That's fantastic, sweetie!" Sally proclaimed and everyone else echoed this.

"You keep going like this and you'll be walking normally a lot sooner than you think", Dr. Cartwright informed the girl seriously.

Fudge beamed. "Thanks."

* * *

Fudge continued to practise walking for another half hour on and off before it was time to go home. She slept all the way home and when she woke up, she was in her bed in her room. She hadn't even been awake for a full minute when her bedroom door was flung open loudly.

"Fudge!" Mater shouted breathlessly. "Ya gotta come over to the Wheel Well right now!"

"Okay..." Fudge reached for her glasses and put them on. She noticed something weird; Mater looked like he'd gone through the car wash for the first time in Chrysler knew how long. He still looked rusty and very Mater, but he looked a lot more presentable as well.

"Yer dinner's ready and it's gon' git cold!" the tow truck informed her as he helped her into her wheelchair. The first time Mater helped her get into the wheelchair and pushed her around, Fudge had been worried that, through no fault of his own, he'd be too rough and fast. However, he'd been surprisingly slow and careful.

"Mater!" Luigi laughed, coming into the room. He, too, looked like he'd been in the car wash _and_ put car wax on. "We have some things to do before we take Fudge to the Wheel Well."

"Like what?" the tow truck wondered.

"She needs a bath and a change of clothes."

"Aw right!" Mater agreed. "First stop, bathroom."

"All right, let's go!" Fudge cried.

Mater shot off with her.

* * *

Mater stayed with them the entire time Fudge was in the bath.

"I wanna see that big scratch on yer back", he explained.

Fudge couldn't help laughing from her spot in the tub. "You _like_ the scar?"

"Yeah, it's kinda like my dents!"

She could understand why Mater saw it that way. He kept his dents as memories of good times, but this scar was a little different. First of all, there wasn't a memory there because she couldn't remember the accident at all, or even anything about the _day_ of the accident. Second of all, there were definitely no good times involved. Nothing about being stuck in hospital pretty much all year and having countless surgeries had been fun. Third of all, he could still get his dents removed if he wanted to whereas Fudge was stuck with this big ugly scar whether she wanted it or not.

Now, Fudge knew something was going on when she noticed that both Luigi and Mater had gotten themselves cleaned up. So, she wasn't very surprised by Luigi's choice in clothes for her after her bath: sleek black jacket made from fake leather, a bright pink dress with a tan belt just above her waist, the star necklace from Lightning and her moon boots she'd received from the hospital. Both the jacket and the dress were brand new and she'd only ever worn them in the store, trying them on to make sure they fit.

"What happened to the dress ya wore when we was bein' knighted?" Mater wondered as he watched Luigi dress his daughter. "You looked so dad-gum purty in that."

"It doesn't fit me anymore", Fudge explained.

"Dad-gum!" Mater sounded disappointed.

"Oh, well", Luigi piped up, kissing his daughter. "You will still look beautiful tonight."

"How come we're all getting dressed up?" Fudge wondered suspiciously. She only ever had to get this dressed up on special occasions such as birthdays, holidays and going out to dinner in fancy restaurants. In fact, when she was little, the only thing she hated about Thanksgiving, Christmas and her family's birthdays was that she had to wear a dress.

Luigi grinned mischievously as he pinned a white rose into her hair like he had done for her knighthood ceremony. "You will see... Fudgie! Come and look in the mirror!" the Fiat instructed excitedly. "See how beautiful you look!"

She obliged and when the thirteen-year-old looked in the mirror, she just could _not_ believe that the person staring back at her was really her.

"Is that _really_ me?!" she asked Luigi.

The Fiat laughed. "Of course it is!"

"I don't believe you!"

"You look so beautiful!" Luigi exclaimed, tears forming in his eyes. "So grown-up! You are my little girl! And one day, you won't be!"

"I'll always be your little girl, Luigi..." Fudge mumbled, leaning up against him.

"Is we ready to go now?!" Mater questioned impatiently before Luigi could answer.

Luigi laughed. "Yes we are, Mater!" He started pushing Fudge's wheelchair off. "Okay, let's go!"

* * *

All the way up to the Wheel Well, Fudge was both excited and nervous. She knew something was going on, but she didn't know what. Her heart rate skyrocketed when they arrived at the Wheel Well. Random cars and a couple of humans were milling around at the front of the restaurant. She didn't recognise a single one of them. Where were the others?

"Okay..." Luigi pushed her inside. "I think this is where we need to be."

The inside of the restaurant was completely empty. There was nobody there and nothing set up. There was a large cloth that blocked off half the restaurant, but that didn't surprise Fudge; she knew that Ramone was doing some painting there.

"Where is everyone?" she wondered.

"Who said that anyone else was coming?" Luigi questioned with a teasing smile.

Fudge giggled. She could tell that Luigi was making a joke.

"Yeah!" Mater chimed in. "Everyone else is busy wit' their shops and-"

He was cut off by a loud bang and a yelp from Fudge. Glitter showered her from out of nowhere. It was another glitter cannon!

"Surprise!" a dozen voices cried as the cloth was dropped to reveal Guido, Lightning, Sally, Flo, Ramone, Fillmore, Sarge, Sheriff, Lizzie and Red. All of them looked like they had been through the car wash and most of them had had changes of tyres and hubcaps. Behind them was a table of all of Fudge's favourite foods: macaroni and cheese with cut up hot dog pieces; spaghetti and meatballs; a couple of other pasta dishes; little pizzas; sushi; mashed potato and gravy and potato salad. There was also a banner on the wall that read: CONGRATULATIONS, FUDGE! and balloons _everywhere_! The song "Something Beautiful" by Robbie Williams was playing too.

"Oh, my gosh!" she exclaimed, her face turning bright red.

"Congratulations, Fudge!" everyone chorused excitedly.

"What's going on?"

"What do you think?" Lightning quizzed her. "We're celebrating! You've just started walking again and that's _great_!"

"You didn't have to do this!" Even so, she couldn't help but feel glad that they had.

"Sure we did", Sally insisted. "This is a big deal." She paused and added, "You look _beautiful_!"

"Wow!" Lightning exclaimed, coming forward. "You really do!"

"You really think so?" Fudge blushed even more.

"Absolutely", Lightning insisted.

When Fudge got settled at the table, she noticed that they were using the good china and crystal wineglasses, both of which were extremely fancy and ridiculously expensive. It contrasted greatly with the completely informal food on the table.

"We don't care about _what_ we're eating!" Flo informed her when she'd pointed that out with a laugh. "This is a special occasion and we wanna act like it."

And, boy, did they! It was no secret that they had really pulled out all the stops for tonight. They lit a bunch of candles on the table (away from Fudge, who was scared of fire). Luigi had gotten another bottle of the expensive Italian wine that he and Guido liked and was busily filling everyone's glasses with it. Even Lightning got some this time! Everyone did, except for Fudge, who got cherry Coke.

"Yum!" She grinned.

Luigi pushed his glass forward. "I would like to propose a toast", he announced. "To Fudge! You have worked very hard to get to where you are now and I know it has been very hard on you, but it has finally paid off. We are all so proud of you, angel! To Fudge!"

"To Fudge!" everyone else, except Fudge, echoed. They clinked their glasses.

"Well, I couldn't have done it without all you guys! Thank you so much!" She raised her glass. "To you guys!"

"To us!" everyone cried, clinking their glasses once more.

"And Sammy, who I wish a speedy recovery!"

"To Sammy!"

"And RJ!"

"To RJ!"

"And Doc, who's always watching over us!"

"To Doc!"

This went on for quite a while until Flo suggested, "Now, why don't we eat up before it all gets cold?" and they all agreed.

"Besides", Sheriff added, "I think we're gettin' off topic. Tonight is supposed to be about Fudge."

Despite how formal the atmosphere was, dinner turned out to be very casual. They talked (mostly about how proud they were of Fudge) and laughed and passed food around, with the exception of Fillmore, who had his own vegan food. It just felt wonderful. Not only that, but it was rather impressive that every last bite of food disappeared.

"All right, Fudge, you better get started on the dishes!" Sarge joked once dinner was over.

Everyone laughed.

"Well, actually, we got one more surprise for you, honey!" Flo announced. "Just wait here and I'll go and get it!"

"Okay..." Again, Fudge became excited and nervous. "Should I be worried?"

Sally laughed along with everyone else. "Of course not!"

Indeed, she didn't. Flo returned a minute later with a gorgeous-looking cake with CONGRATULATIONS, FUDGE written on it in blue frosting.

"You didn't have to do this!" an overwhelmed Fudge exclaimed, laughing.

"Of course we did, sweet pea!" Flo repeated as she began slicing the cake. "We told you, this is a special occasion."

* * *

"Thank you guys so much!" Fudge couldn't stop giggling. By that point, every last crumb of the cake had vanished as well. "I really appreciate it! This was really fun and everything was delicious! How the hell did you organise all of this?"

"Magicians never reveal their secrets, honey", Flo replied.

"Yeah." Lightning nodded. "Just know you deserved this. You've been through such a hard time lately. And I'm sorry about that-"

"Don't say another word!" Luigi interjected.

The entire group turned to Luigi. He'd been awfully quiet during dinner, which they'd assumed was due to the talk Guido had had with him before.

"(Be nice to McQueen tonight! This is not about _you_!)" the forklift had reminded his best friend. "(This is about _Fudge_!)"

Lightning glared at him. "Excuse me? Just because _you_ won't talk to me, it doesn't mean I can't apologise to-"

"I said don't say another word!" Luigi cut him off again. The Fiat took a deep breath and nobody expected the next words to come out of his mouth to do so. Yet he admitted softly, " _I_ am the one who is sorry."

Nobody was more surprised than Lightning. "You? Why?" He knew why; he just wanted to hear Luigi say it.

"It is just that..." Luigi sighed. "You know I love Fudgie so much and because I was _very_ upset about her accident, I just felt like I needed someone to blame. And so, I blamed you."

"Yeah. Yeah, you did", Lightning agreed.

"It was an accident", Luigi informed him. "I know that. I am very sorry. I have not been very fair to you. I know you would never do something like that on purpose. I know you have felt very bad about this."

McQueen nodded, tears forming in his eyes. "I really have."

"And I forgive you", the Fiat informed him. "Do you forgive me?"

"Of course I do! I understand why you were so upset! I love Fudge and care about her a lot too! I wouldn't feel so bad if I didn't!"

Luigi came forward with tears in his eyes as well and gave Lightning a hug. Both of them were sniffling and thinking that it was good to be friends again.

"I love you guys!" Fudge piped up with wet eyes of her own. She wheeled herself forward to them. The two guys smiled and folded her into their hug wordlessly.

Guido and Sally smiled too and joined the hug. Then they were followed by Mater and then _he_ was followed by every last one of the others.

All thirteen of them were enveloped in a massive group hug. Nobody said anything. The only sound was the sound of thirteen people sobbing and sniffling. Not a single one of them was dry-eyed. They were all crying out of both sadness and happiness because they had all been through so much over the year and things were now finally starting to go their way. Fudge was walking again, Luigi had finally forgiven Lightning and this was an incredible, beautiful moment. They were all there, together.

Nobody knew how long they stayed like that. However, when they broke apart, Lightning turned to look at Luigi and Fudge, which got him thinking. If Fudge could learn to walk again and Luigi could forgive him, then maybe it was time to do something _he_ hadn't done in a long time too...

* * *

"Okay", he murmured to himself softly as he visualised the race in his mind. "Here we go. Focus. Speed. I am speed. One winner, forty-two losers. I eat losers for breakfast."

Lightning opened his eyes for a brief moment and caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the windows. He saw himself with his racing decals back on. Oh, how he missed seeing that big, glorious 95 on his sides! For the first time in months, he looked like himself again. He _felt_ like himself again. It was the first Saturday of October and two weeks since the dinner to celebrate Fudge walking again. When the others had woken up the next morning, the stock car had announced that he was ready to get back into training, so he could race again. Of course, everyone was over the moon to hear that. Although he had missed that weekend's race and didn't think he would be _quite_ back in the game for the next one, he had shown up to the speedway and the qualifying for the one after _that_. There were times when he would fear that he wasn't ready for it and freak out during the middle of the race. Still, for the most part, he felt like he had never been more ready for anything in his life.

Bang, bang, bang!

"Hey, Lightnin'!" Mack called out. "You ready?!"

Lightning broke out into a huge grin and gave a rev of his engine as he rolled out of the trailer. "Oh, yeah! Lightning's ready!" He'd even missed the tradition of Mack having to get him out of the trailer before every race.

The first thing he saw when he exited the trailer was the flood of reporters, snapping his photo and calling out question after question.

"McQueen! What have you been doing during your time away from racing?"

"Do you think you are prepared for this race?"

"How come you've decided to return now with only a few races left in the season?"

"How is your cheerleader?"

Lightning answered the questions as best as he could, explaining how Fudge was getting better and that made him feel like he was ready to return to racing.

"I know it seems like there's no point in coming back to the season _now_ ", he explained, "but I was quite eager to get back. So, here I am."

When he finally arrived at his pits, he found Fudge- in her Rust-Eze racing jacket, 95 T-shirt, red shorts and her moon boots- surrounded by Cal, Brick, Bobby, Tex, Mack, Rusty, Dusty and The King. Moments ago, she'd been surrounded by the press herself.

"Fudge, how is your recovery from your accident going?" Kori Turbowitz wanted to know.

"How do you think McQueen's gonna go in this race?" Shannon Spokes asked.

"Since you can't do your usual cheerleading, what are you going to do at this race?" a third reporter questioned.

"Okay!" Luigi shouted over the reporters' questions. "I think that is enough! Please leave my daughter alone! She is not answering any questions."

"Luigi, it's okay", Fudge assured him. She didn't mind answering the press's questions and so, she did.

* * *

"It's so good to see you back here!" Lightning heard Cal inform the girl.

"I'm glad to _be_ back!" she answered.

"Yeah, we've sure missed you and your team around here", Brick added.

"Thanks!" Fudge blushed.

"Have you told them your big news?" Luigi prompted his daughter.

"No I haven't!"

"What big news?" Tex wondered.

Fudge couldn't stop giggling. It was hard for her to get the words out. "Well, I just started walking again! I'm not very good yet, but I have started."

"Well, that's great!" Bobby exclaimed.

"Good for you!" Rusty and Dusty cheered in unison.

"Hey, guys!" Lightning called out, getting everyone's attention.

" **MCQUEEN!** " Cal shouted, rushing forward and giving him a big hug.

Everyone laughed.

"Hey, Cal!"

"It's so good to see you guys again! We've all really missed you!"

"We've missed you too, Cal", Lightning assured him.

"Yeah, welcome back", Brick, Bobby, The King, Tex, Rusty and Dusty chorused.

"But does this still mean you won't race for Team Dinoco?" Tex kidded.

"Nope", McQueen responded.

"Well, that's too bad. With how Cal's goin', we could really use you."

"You know I can hear you, right? I'm right here!" Cal reminded his sponsor.

"Now", Lightning grinned at his friends, "are you ready to lose?"

"No! _You're_ ready to lose, McQueen!"

The King grinned at the others, mainly Fudge and Lightning. "Should we all say it together?"

Lightning returned the grin. "One... two... three!"

"Good comeback, Cal!" everyone there- including Cal himself- shouted in unison, laughing hysterically.

"I've missed this!" Fudge added.

"Yeah, me too!" Lightning agreed.

* * *

Pretty soon, the racers were lining up at the starting line.

"Oh, my God! This is so exciting!" RJ exclaimed ecstatically. "I've never actually been to a race before!"

That's right. Fudge and Lightning had invited RJ to the race with them. After all, Fudge wanted to be as close to family as possible with everything that had happened. So, they invited RJ to this race. Of course, he'd accepted and so, he was there with Lightning, Fudge, Sally, Mater, Luigi, Guido, Sarge and Fillmore.

Lightning had come in eleventh during qualifying, which surprised and impressed the RS gang, the other racers and the fans.

" _Well, this sure is a surprise!_ " Bob Cutlass announced from the booth. " _We weren't_ _expecting Lightning McQueen to return at all this season. Yet, here he is._ "

" _With the incredible burden he's been carrying all year, I wasn't sure if he would be comin'_ _back to racin' at all_ ", Darrell Cartrip added.

" _Even so_ ", Natalie Certain chimed in, " _his probability of winning is at an all time low._ " She spat out a lot of statistics that the RS gang paid no attention to.

" _Can you hear me, Fudge-O?_ " Lightning wanted to know.

"Loud and clear!" she responded into the headset.

McQueen had insisted that it would help him if he could hear Fudge's voice constantly through the radio. That way, he knew that she was okay and wasn't lying crumpled and unmoving on the track or in a hospital bed, hooked up to a billion machines with needles going into her.

"Good luck, McQueen!" Luigi added. "I know you are going to do great out there today because you are an amazing racer and an amazing friend!"

The others laughed and shook their hoods. This kind of behaviour was the norm for Luigi lately. Ever since he'd made amends with Lightning, the Fiat was making an extra effort to be friendly to the stock car. Sometimes, a little _too_ friendly. Nobody knew what to do about it, but at least it was better than constant fighting. A _lot_ better.

* * *

" _Boogity, boogity, boogity!_ " Darrell Cartrip yelled. " _Let's go racin', boys!_ "

Off they went. All forty-three race cars were flying around the track.

" **GO, LIGHTNING!** " Fudge shrieked as loud as she could.

"Come on, McQueen!" RJ added.

A couple of times, as he tried to make a turn, Lightning kind of froze up a little. He slowed down and seemed to want to turn back.

"I'm here, Lightning", Fudge reminded him comfortingly whenever that happened. "I'm right here."

If he could, Lightning would turn to the pits to look at Fudge and smile. Then he would pick up his speed again and keep going.

Even though she hadn't been asked to, Fudge didn't feel capable of stopping herself from calling out tips to Lightning just like a crew chief would.

" _Thanks!_ " he'd respond, laughing a little bit. " _Wow! You're getting pretty good, Fudge-O!_ "

The human girl beamed with pride. A couple of the other crew chiefs, including The King, looked over at her and smiled. Even they could see that she had talent.

" _All right, I'm gonna pit now!_ " Lightning informed his crew. " _You ready, Guido?_ "

The forklift lit up. "Peet stop!"

" _You ready, Fillmore?_ "

"Got your fuel right here, man!"

The 95 racer came into the pits and both Guido and Fillmore got to work. The latter filled up Lightning's tank while the former zipped off his tyres at lightning speed.

"Peet stop!" he repeated.

In a matter of seconds, Lightning was out of there!

" _It's just like old times!_ " he declared happily into his radio.

"It sure is!" Fudge agreed with a big smile. Even though it had been a long time since the cars and human from Radiator Springs had been into this routine and had really missed it, they got back into it like second nature.

* * *

The race continued for a lot of laps. Finally, it got to the last lap.

"You ready to give it all you've got?!" Bobby teased Lightning good-naturedly.

"I was born ready!" Lightning revved his engine.

"Not so fast, McQueen!" Bobby shot forward.

"Oh, yes I am!" Lightning gunned forward too.

"Come on, Lightning! Show him what you're made of!" Fudge cheered him on.

Radiator Springs' star racer was neck and neck with Bobby, Cal and Brick, all four of them jockeying for the lead.

"Bet you're used to this view, huh, Cal?" Lightning called to guess who, who was right behind him.

"Hey, _you're_ used to this view!" Cal retorted.

"Good comeback, Cal!" McQueen responded, sailing further into the lead where he caught up to Bobby. "Hey, Bobby! Blinker's on!"

"I'm not falling for _that_ , McQueen!" Bobby insisted. "I'm not Cal!"

All of a sudden, a wild Cal appeared. "You know I can _hear_ you, right? I'm right here!"

Brick pretended to look around. "Did you guys hear something?"

"Nope", Bobby replied.

"Oh, well." Lightning shrugged. "Back to racing."

The four racing buddies took off once more.

Right before they reached the fourth and final turn, all four of them were so close together. However, that was a turn that got Lightning shaken up. His speed decreased.

"Lightning, it's all right; I'm here", Fudge assured him gently.

He took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I know that." He picked up his speed, but not by much. The others were all so far ahead of him.

"Think you can stay in fourth?" Fudge quizzed him through the radio.

"Yeah."

"Okay. Then go for fourth. We'll still be proud of you."

"Right!" McQueen gunned forward.

* * *

That was exactly what happened. Bobby won the race, Brick was second, Cal came in third and they were followed by Lightning in fourth. Like Fudge said, everyone was still very proud of him.

"Way to go, buddy!" Mater hollered as he made his way back to the pits.

"That was a good race!" Bobby proclaimed.

"Yeah, it was fun to race with you again!" Cal chimed in.

"Way to go, champ!" Rusty cheered.

"Fourth place ain't nothin' to sneeze at!" Dusty added. "Especially with what you've been goin' through this year."

"That was so cool!" RJ commented.

"That's my Stickers!" That was Sally.

"I _told_ you you would be great! Like I said, you are an amazing racer and an amazing friend!" Guess who _that_ was.

Lightning grinned at their kind words and flashed his signature lightning bolt. It had been months since he'd said it, but he let out a very big and very gleeful, " **KA-CHOW!** "

Only Fudge remained quiet. She just gave Lightning a warm smile and a hug, both of which he returned, not saying a word either.

"And well done to you too, Fudge!" The King added. "You seemed to be doin' a great job as crew chief."

Fudge blushed.

"I saw you too, Fudge", Tex added. "You should really consider doin' the crew chief thing for a livin' one day. We'd have a place for you here at Dinoco if you did."

"So, Tex, you trying to get _everyone_ in Radiator Springs to come and work for you?" Lightning teased.

"Yeah, pretty soon, Tex is gonna _buy_ the entire town of Radiator Springs!" Fudge joked.

Nobody could stop laughing.

* * *

"Hey, guys!" Cal Weathers called out to the RS gang and Rust-Eze cars once they'd dealt with the press. "We got a party going on at the Dinoco tent! You guys wanna come?"

"Sure!" they all agreed in unison.

"Oh, man! This is gonna be so much fun!" RJ shouted as they headed off. "Partying with the best racers in the country!"

Lightning stayed behind for a moment to think. If there was one thing he could take away from this difficult year he'd had, it was that they'd had big victories and little victories and the small ones were just as worth celebrating. He was proud of himself just for racing at all. He was proud of Fudge for taking her first steps. He was even proud of Luigi for forgiving him. It had been a rough year, but there were some small victories that he could drag from it. So, he was going to celebrate that, he decided as he joined the others at the party.

 **Yay! Fudge is walking again! I like how the others go down to surprise her and they're the ones who end up being surprised. :)**

 **Yay! Lightning and Luigi are friends again! I know what you're thinking: "Took them long enough!" Well, yeah, but this seemed like the best point in the narrative to make it happen.**

 **Yay! Lightning's racing again! I figured it would probably still be difficult for him to get back into racing because while I don't know much about PTSD, I can imagine it's not something you just... get over. So, I've tried to reflect that here.**

 **By the way, I saw this thing on Tumblr that listed all of the years Lightning McQueen won the Piston Cup and 2013 was not one of them. Now, you know why... (Or, at least, in my timeline!)**

 **Next chapter's the last one, so I hope you're excited for that. Please review.**


	30. What a Feeling

**Here we go! The final chapter! I'm sad to see this story come to an end, but I'm also glad to see the whole thing posted.**

 **The other thing I feel is bad because I've tortured the canon characters and my OCs a little too much in this story. I got the idea to write it because I thought it would be a good opening for Fudge in** _ **Cars 3**_ **and I really do feel sorry for Lightning for what he's had to go through as well, but he seemed like the best character to use for this. And as I mentioned on Wattpad, had I known that this story was going to go the way it did, I wouldn't have been so tough on Fudge in** _ **When Life Gives You Lemons**_ **! I wrote that story before I even had the idea for this one, so...**

 **Anyway, I figured that January sixth, the day Fudge's accident happened in 2013, would be the best day to finish this off.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 30- What a Feeling**

The rest of October flew by at rapid speed. Even though Lightning McQueen was pretty much out of the running for a Piston Cup, he enjoyed being back on the track for the very few races left in the season and performed quite well in them. It was Bobby Swift who ended up taking home the Piston Cup that year and the entire RS gang was happy for him.

However, just because the racing season was over, that didn't mean that things came to a stop. For one thing, Lightning was once again in touch with his World Grand Prix buddies and they were making plans to meet up the following year for overseas racing.

For another, Fudge still visited Sammy whenever she could. She was glad to see that her sister was gradually getting better. She insisted that she would definitely be back in the States by the end of January. Luckily, Fudge had spoken to the doctors and they seemed to believe that too.

"It's not definite, though", they reminded the girl and the rest of Sammy's family.

The third thing was as the season came to a conclusion, most of the RS gang, including Fudge, attended a fancy Piston Cup dinner party as they had done quite a few times in the past. Fudge was a guest of honour, receiving a lot of attention from everyone.

* * *

Plus, during the end of the season and a little bit after, not only did Lightning get invited to do a bunch of interviews with the likes of Bob Cutlass, Darrell Cartrip, Brent Mustangburger and several talk show hosts, but Fudge did too! This was pretty exciting for the thirteen-year-old because while she'd been interviewed trackside before, abruptly after her knighthood ceremony and birthday celebrations, this was the first time that she was _invited_ to do an interview.

"I'm pretty nervous", she commented to Lightning as they showed up to do the interview with Brent Mustangburger in early November.

She'd already done the one with Bob Cutlass and Darrell Cartrip, but she was still nervous because she'd at least _met_ those two before. Fudge had seen Brent Mustangburger on TV, but she'd never met him. This would be the first time and she was nervous.

"You'll be fine", he assured her. "Just do what you did with Bob and Darrell. You were fine then and Brent's really nice."

That was when Brent Mustangburger himself showed up. "Hello, McQueen. It's good to see you again."

"Thanks, Brent. It's good to see you too."

The Racing Sports Network reporter turned to Fudge. "You must be Fudge. It's very nice to meet you." He was smiling at her and held out his tyre for her to shake.

"Nice to meet you too." Fudge shook his tyre and started to feel a little more at ease.

That was when another guest being interviewed by Brent Mustangburger approached. It was an orange and white crop dusting plane. "Lightning McQueen and Fudge Rossi-Topolino?!"

Fudge's eyes widened. "Dusty Crophopper?!" She'd seen him on TV earlier that year, competing in the air racing competition, the Wings Around the Globe Rally.

"It's so cool to meet you both", Dusty offered. "I'm a big fan. And I heard about your accident, Fudge. I'm glad you've recovered."

The thirteen-year-old smiled. "Thanks. And I've seen your racing. Your story is truly inspirational."

"Thanks!" Dusty echoed.

Like the one with Bob and Darrell had been, the interview was quite emotional for both Fudge and Lightning. Talking about the challenging year that they'd had brought both of them to tears.

"That must've been very hard on you", Brent commented sympathetically at several points during the interview, including when Lightning described the accident and giving Fudge CPR and Fudge talked about the challenges she faced with her physical therapy.

* * *

"That must've been very hard on you" were words that Fudge and Lightning heard a lot over the next couple of weeks as they travelled around the country, which was pretty exciting for Fudge. She'd never been to New York, Washington D.C., Boston, Chicago, San Francisco or Hawaii before, but she was going to all of those places and she loved it. They appeared on dozens of talk shows to talk about the accident and the challenges they'd faced. With all of the travelling, talking to TV hosts and reporters, and sympathy, they were glad to return home to Radiator Springs just in time for Thanksgiving!

* * *

RJ was invited to spend Thanksgiving in Radiator Springs and he accepted.

Anyway, normally on Thanksgiving, every single Radiator Springs resident had a job to do with dinner such as helping to prepare the food and washing up and the rule was if you don't help out, you don't eat, but that year, Fudge got out of _hers_. Every year, she was supposed to help Mater and Lightning set the table. However, she was asleep while that was going on. So, RJ helped Lightning and Mater do that instead.

"Does that mean I don't get to eat?" Fudge wondered when Sally woke her up and told her that the table had been set without her. The Porsche's usual job was to help in the kitchen with Flo, Luigi and Guido. However, things were nearly wrapped up in the kitchen, so the two Italians had asked her to wake Fudge up, give her a bath and dress her.

"Of course not!" Sally assured her, running the bath. "You've been tired a lot lately and you needed a nap. That's not your fault."

The atmosphere in Radiator Springs on Thanksgiving was just as formal as the celebration dinner. Fudge was dressed in the green dress she got for her birthday again after she'd woken up from her nap and had a bath, all of the cars had had a car wash and most of them had new tyres and hubcaps again. RJ sported a suit and tie. Once again, the good china and crystal wineglasses were out and the candles were lit.

"All right, everybody", Flo announced, "it's Thanksgiving, so you know the rules. No one eats anything until you've all said one thing you're thankful for. I'm sure with the eventful year we've had, you can all think of something."

They sure could. Here were some of the things the group said they were thankful for:

Sarge gave thanks for the strength that all of them had shown through a difficult year.

Sally gave thanks for friendship, believing that she couldn't have gotten through such a difficult time if she didn't have such wonderful friends.

Luigi gave thanks for Fudge's recovery.

RJ gave thanks for both of his sisters getting better.

Lightning gave thanks for not only Fudge, but all of the important people in his life.

"You know, we nearly lost Fudge this year. So, I want her to know- and I want everyone here to know- that I care about all of you a lot and I'm glad to have met you guys. Because when the day comes when any of you aren't here, or I'm not here, I don't wanna regret not saying it. So, I'm saying it now."

Everyone gave him a warm smile. A couple of them even cried.

Fudge gave thanks for family.

"I couldn't have gotten through all of this without you guys", she added. "Thank you. And I know Doc is watching over us all and Sammy's gonna get better, so I'm thankful for _that_ as well."

Again, everyone smiled and there were some tears.

"Well, we are all very thankful for you too, Fudgie!" Luigi gave her a kiss.

"So, kin we eat now?" Mater questioned impatiently.

Everyone laughed.

"Yes, I guess you can all eat now!" Flo announced. "Everyone, dig in."

Nobody hesitated to obey.

* * *

The rest of the year was slow-paced for the cars in Radiator Springs. Tourists typically came in fleets during the summer and while there were some in winter, not nearly as many. December arrived before they knew it and Christmas was right around the corner.

"At least we don't have to worry about any of us not being here this year", Sally commented as she placed a candy cane ornament on the tree.

"Yeah", Lightning agreed.

Fudge smiled as she leaned over in her wheelchair to place another ornament on the tree (even though she was getting better at walking and could do so a little bit with crutches now, she was still supposed to be taking it easy because she got tired easily and in pain). "I'm glad we're all here."

The race car returned the smile. "Me too."

"With such a crazy year, I didn't think Christmas was ever going to come!" the thirteen-year-old remarked.

"Neither did I, to be honest", the stock car agreed.

* * *

But it did.

"Can you believe tomorrow's gonna be _Christmas_?" Fudge quizzed the others on Christmas Eve excitedly. As usual, they were all at Flo's that night and were watching the snow fall gently around the small town.

"I know." Flo shook her hood in disbelief as she served everyone with drinks. "It feels like last Christmas was a lot longer than a year ago."

"Yeah, this time last year, we were worried that Stickers wasn't gonna make it here in time for Christmas", Sally added.

"Was that really only a year ago?" Sarge asked in disbelief.

"It feels like longer 'cause so much has happened since then", Sheriff pointed out. "We've all been through a lot this year."

"I'll say", half the café patrons chorused.

"Hey, Sally?" Fudge piped up after a moment of content silent.

"Yeah?"

"I think I left my book over at the Cozy Cone. Is it all right if I go and get it now?"

"No!" the Porsche cried a little _too_ forcefully.

"What? Why not?" Fudge cried defensively, getting close to tears. She hated anybody getting mad at her for whatever reason.

Sally took a breath. "Sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean to yell. What I meant was maybe _I_ should go and get it and give it _to_ you. You know, I'm not sure if you should be doing that much walking."

"I've done it before", Fudge pointed out.

"Well, you've done a lot of walking today, haven't you?"

"Okay..." Fudge let it go.

As they often did on Christmas Eve, the RS gang launched into an epic snowball fight. Fudge was able to _throw_ snowballs, but nobody else was allowed to throw any at _her_ because she was still kind of fragile. Nobody minded, though. She still had fun. Like everyone else, she was laughing hysterically, but even so, she was asleep before eight o'clock as she often was nowadays with the medication and overexerting herself.

"We should take her home now, Guido", Luigi informed his best friend, smiling.

"Okay." Guido leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"Night, Fudge." Everyone kissed the sleeping girl good night.

"And when she wakes up, it'll be Christmas!" Mater shouted.

"Ssh!" everyone hissed, gesturing to Fudge, who was still fast asleep.

"Sure will, buddy!" Lightning added.

* * *

And indeed, it was.

"Fudge, Fudge!" a southern accent hollered in the sleeping Fudge's ear. "Wake up, wake up! It's Christmas, it's Christmas!"

"It _is_ Christmas, Fudge!" another voice added. This one was a lot quieter.

Fudge opened her eyes to find both Mater and Lightning.

"It's really Christmas?" she asked in amazement.

"It really is", Lightning assured her.

"Yeah! Santa Car and Santa Claus have done been!"

"They have?" Fudge remembered meeting the Santas one year when she was nine years old and helping them deliver all the presents with Mater. That had been truly magical.

"Yeah!" Lightning scooped her up. "Come and see for yourself!"

Sure enough, at Flo's, there was a mountain of presents.

"Whoa!" Fudge exclaimed softly.

"Dad-gum!" Mater added, even though he'd already seen them.

Waiting for the others to arrive to dive straight into them was torturous for Mater and Fudge.

Most of the gifts were pretty typical, straightforward holiday gifts. However, there were two very extraordinary moments during the gift-giving and both of the presents were for Fudge.

"Here, Fudge-O." Lightning held out a bright blue present bag. "This is something I've been thinking about giving you for a long time. I just wanted to be sure you were ready. And now, I've got no doubts that you are."

"What is it?"

"Open it and find out."

So, she did. Nestled underneath some pale blue tissue paper was a headset.

Fudge gave him a quizzical look. "What's this for?"

Lightning took a deep breath. "Fudge", he began with a soft smile, "I want you to be my crew chief."

Fudge paused. "Are you serious?"

The stock car nodded sincerely. "Dead serious."

"And you're _sure_ I'm ready for it?"

"Absolutely. When you were giving me advice those last couple of races, even though you're only thirteen, you knew exactly what you were doing. You didn't make a single mistake and I was really proud of you for that."

"But I could never stay awake for the whole race!" Fudge pointed out.

"Don't worry about it", he assured her. "You just be my crew chief as much as you can. If you need a nap, take a nap. I just want you to have this job." He sighed. "You know, I've always been reluctant to get a new crew chief because I didn't wanna replace Doc, but that's not what this is. I just think I need all the help I can get. And I know you can do it. I trust you. What... What do you say?"

Fudge was extremely touched and honoured. "I say... Tex will be very disappointed."

Lightning laughed. "Is that a yes?"

"It's a **YESYESYES!** " Fudge shrieked happily. "I would _love_ to be your crew chief." She gave Lightning a big hug. "I'll try not to let you down!"

"I'm sure you won't."

This sure was exciting. Fudge had gotten a _promotion_! Pretty much all her life, she'd dreamed of being an assistant crew chief. Now, she was partway towards that dream. She knew she wasn't ready to get out on the track again just yet, but she was happy to take it one step at a time.

"Fudgie?" Luigi piped up once all of the presents were opened. "Luigi and Guido have one more present for you."

Fudge looked around, wondering where said present was. "You do?"

"Yes. Wait here. We will go and get it."

The Fiat and the forklift headed off to the Cozy Cone and that's when it occurred to Fudge that _that_ was why Sally hadn't wanted her to go over to the Cozy Cone the night before. That was where her present was! The weird thing was, though, it seemed to be taking them an awfully long time to get the present.

"Have they left me?" Fudge wondered after about five minutes.

"No, no", Sally assured her with a chuckle. "I think maybe they just forgot where they put your present."

Fudge wondered how they could do that, but she didn't ask.

When they returned twenty minutes later, they had a cardboard box with them.

"Here it is!"

"(We wanted to give you this for your birthday, but we decided to wait)", Guido explained. He kissed his daughter. "(Merry Christmas, Fudge!)"

"Merry Christmas, Fudgie!" Luigi added, also kissing her and placing the box down in front of the thirteen-year-old.

Immediately, Fudge became excited. She opened the box and she saw a flash of black, white and ginger leap from out of the box. It was gone in a second and the box was empty.

Guido laughed. "(Come here!)" He grabbed the thing that had just escaped and held it out for Fudge to see. It was a small calico cat!

"Oh, my gosh! Is this real?!" Fudge's face lit up as she reached out to pet the cat.

Luigi laughed. "Of course it is."

"It's so cute!"

"Yes", Luigi agreed. "And very naughty too. It took us so long to get back here because she did not want to get in that box."

Fudge giggled. "It's a girl?"

Luigi nodded. "Yes."

The human girl grinned at Sally, Flo and Lizzie. "Hear that, you guys? There's another girl around here!"

They laughed. When she was little, Fudge would often get upset when little boy tourists refused to let her play with them or when Mater and Lightning were going off to do something just the two of them since they were _best_ friends.

"There are too many _boys_ around here!" the angry girl would complain, sniffling. "We need more _girls_!"

"Yeah, well, we girls are just gonna have to stick together, aren't we, sweetie?" Sally, Flo and Lizzie would often respond.

They would- and still did- often had girls' days and girls' nights, which Fudge enjoyed immensely.

Anyway, back to the cat, Fudge was so excited that she couldn't stop giggling and couldn't take her eyes off her or her hand off her soft fur.

"So, Fudge!" Ramone got her attention. "What are you gonna name her?"

Fudge hesitated, still petting the cat. "I don't know. It's gotta be something good."

Luigi stroked her hair. "I am sure it will be."

"Hey, Fudge!" Lightning called out. He had a paper bag with him. "These are all for you too."

Inside the bag were things like cat food, cat toys, a pale blue collar and various other things a cat might need or want.

Fudge took a long piece of string out of the bag and dangled in front of the cat, who was immediately interested. She stood on her hind legs to bat it and when Fudge moved away with the string, dragging it across the ground, the cat chased it. Everyone laughed.

Fudge smiled. "This has been the best Christmas ever!"

Everyone else returned the smile. "It really has", most of them agreed pretty much in unison.

Then Fudge looked around at her family and gave a content sigh. "Merry Christmas, guys."

"Merry Christmas, Fudge."

Lightning had watery eyes (but that could've just been his allergy to cat hair, which also explained why he'd been having sleepovers with Mater for the last couple of days!).

* * *

A couple of days later came New Year's Eve, which meant two things. One, Fudge would be returning to the hospital in a couple of days. Since the sixth was the anniversary of the accident, the doctors wanted to do another check-up on her. Two, there was a party going on in Radiator Springs to celebrate the New Year. With the eventful year they'd had and Fudge still not supposed to be overexerting herself, this party was going to be a lot more mellow than ones in the past. Only the RS gang would be there, along with Fudge's half-brother, RJ. However, some people had a couple of other things they needed to do first.

"Hey, Sammy!" Fudge responded to the beeping in her watch.

" _Hey, Fudgsicle!_ " her sister returned the greeting in a hushed voice. The video showed the young woman in a dark room. " _How's it going?_ "

"Okay. Thanks. What about you?"

" _Yeah, I'm doing okay. It's just gone midnight here. I'm supposed to be resting, but I wanted_ _to stay up till midnight and wish you a happy new year._ "

"Happy New Year!"

" _I hope 2014 is a hell of a lot better for both of us_ ", Sammy remarked.

"Yeah. Me too. Oh!" Fudge exclaimed abruptly. "I forgot to tell you! I came up with a name for my cat!" She had visited her sister in London for a few hours on Christmas Day and told her all about her new cat.

" _Really?_ " Sammy was interested. " _What?_ "

Fudge started giggling. "Jennyfur."

" _What?_ " Sammy asked incredulously.

"Jennyfur", Fudge repeated.

" _Jennifer?_ " her half-sister echoed.

"Jenny... _fur_!" Fudge explained. "You get it? Because she's a cat!"

There was a moment of silence.

Finally, Sammy started laughing. "That's pretty funny."

They both laughed. After everything that had happened, it felt good to laugh over something as silly as that.

" _Listen, I'm gonna have to go now with the nurses on my case, but I'll talk to you on the_ _sixth, all right?_ "

"All right", Fudge agreed.

" _Great! And I'll be back next month, remember?_ "

"I remember."

" _Sweet! Love you!_ "

"Love you too!"

* * *

Meanwhile, outside, it was dark in Radiator Springs, but Lightning could still see where he was going. He never thought that he would need real headlights, but now that he had them, he was glad he did. There was no way he could get to his destination without them. Even though there were the stars and the moonlight, this place was hidden away. That way, members of the general public would never find it. The townsfolk made that agreement years ago to prevent it from becoming overrun with people who didn't really understand. It was Doc Hudson's grave.

"Hey, Doc!" Lightning greeted the grave brightly.

He- well, _all_ of the RS gang- talked to Doc's grave every now and then just like they all talked to Stanley's statue on occasion, despite the grave not being the only place they could feel Doc's presence.

"Well, it's New Year's Eve again and it's been one hell of a year." He gave a weak chuckle. "I guess that was mostly my fault." He paused. "Okay. It was _entirely_ my fault. I'm sorry. I guess I should've listened to you when you told me not to take Fudge racing." Tears of shame came to the stock car's eyes. "I'm _really_ sorry I did this to her, but I think she's come through this quite well. Doc, wherever you are, I sure hope you can see her", Lightning sobbed. "We're all so damn proud of her. And I know you would be too."

He talked to Doc for a little while longer with his parting words being, "I know everything worked out in the end, but I'm hoping next year is a smoother road. Let's hope 2014's a much better year for all of us. Thanks for helping me through this tough year, Doc."

* * *

When he returned to town, drying the last of his tears, everyone smiled at him.

"So", Sally began as a taxi that had just dropped RJ off, drove away, "now that everyone's here, what do you say we get this party started?"

"Yeah!" Fudge looked around. "It looks like it's getting pretty dark..."

Lightning grinned at the fire truck and Model T over at the curio shop. "Red? Lizzie? You know what to do."

Of course they did. They switched the radio on and the song "What a Feeling" by Irene Cara started up. One by one, the neon lights of the town flickered on along with Fudge's bubble machine and the cars started cruising up and down the streets. It was just like that magical night seven and a half years earlier right before Lightning was found and left to go to California.

RJ's eyes widened at the sight of the neon. "Whoa..."

Fudge grinned. "I know! I love it!"

Out of nowhere, Guido scooped Fudge up, who yelped in surprise. "(Come and dance, Fudgie!)" He took off, twirling her around to her delight.

RJ laughed until Lizzie appeared at his side.

"Pardon me, young man", she began sweetly. "May I have this dance?"

The eighteen-year-old man was caught off guard. "Uh..." Before he could answer properly, Lizzie whisked him away.

"Go, RJ!" Fudge hollered, laughing hysterically.

As the thirteen-year-old was spun around and she danced and laughed with her family, a huge wave of happiness swept over her. She had made it to the end of a difficult year and they were celebrating. What a feeling it was.

* * *

The cruising, dancing and laughing went on for a couple of hours before Flo insisted that they moved inside.

"Midnight's comin' up and we gotta make sure we're ready for the toast!" the ex-show car explained.

However, when they all looked around, there was one member of their little group missing.

"Where did Fudge go?" Flo wondered.

Nobody had seen her leave, but they could see that her bedroom light was on.

"I'll get her", Lightning offered. "I really wanna talk to her before midnight."

Nobody objected.

* * *

When Lightning got up to Fudge's bedroom, she was sat on the bed, petting Jennyfur, who was curled up next to her, fast asleep.

"Hey, Fudge-O."

Fudge looked up and smiled, still keeping her hand on Jennyfur. "Hey..."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because you're up in here instead of at the party with the rest of us."

"I just needed a moment to myself."

"What are you doing?" Lightning wanted to know. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

"What a year it's been." She showed him the brief summary of the year she'd created in her journal with some help from Luigi, which looked like this:

 _January 6- Accident happens (don't remember it)_

 _February 28- Opened my eyes for first time since accident_

 _March 28- Wake up from coma_

 _April 21- Luigi's engine attack_

 _May 17- Come home from hospital_

 _June 1- Find out I have to spend birthday in hospital_

 _June 16- MY BIRTHDAY! Fudge Rossi-Topolino Birthday Bonanza_

 _June 24- Caribbean cruise_

 _July 9- Go on adventure in town for first time since accident_

 _August 7- Learn of Sammy's cancer diagnosis, go missing_

 _August 9- Found by Lightning_

 _August 13- Visit Sammy in hospital for first time_

 _August 20- Start physical therapy_

 _September 21- Walk again, Lightning and Luigi make up_

 _October 5- Lightning racing again_

 _October 26- First interview_

 _November 4- Start doing interviews, travel round country for that_

 _December 25- CHRISTMAS! Get headset from Lightning for job as crew chief and_ _Jennyfur (cat)_

 _December 31- New Year_

"I know", McQueen agreed. "It's been crazier than a road lizard."

" _What_?!" Fudge launched into giggles. She had heard her family say countless weird, surprising and/or funny things, but _never_ had she heard Lightning say _anything_ like _that_.

"Never mind", Lightning answered hurriedly with an embarrassed smile.

"Well, that kind of ruined what I was about to tell you was my favourite part of this year."

"What was your favourite part of this year?"

"After all that... you know... I really feel like I know you a lot better."

Lightning couldn't help smiling. "I feel like I know _you_ a lot better too."

"Until you said _that_!" Fudge added with a laugh.

The stock car laughed too.

"Anyway, I know it's been a hell of a year", he went on. "I think I've cried more this year than in the last ten years."

"I guess it's been an emotional rollercoaster, huh?"

"Yeah... But I'm glad everything worked out in the end."

"Me too. I sure hope 2014's a bit better for us", Fudge added.

"Well, we do have some big plans. There's a new Piston Cup season coming up- with you as my new crew chief", he added, "and we're going to Australia and New Zealand in April."

* * *

It was Mark "Frosty" Winterbottom's turn to host the racers, so he had something special in mind. With Australia and New Zealand so far away from the others, it may be their only chance to go there. So, he decided to take them all on a tour of both countries.

"You're gonna love it!" Frosty had promised.

"We can't wait to see you again, McQueen!" Rip Clutchgoneski had proclaimed.

"And Fudge!" Carla Veloso had added.

" _Ja_!" Max Schnell had agreed. "We are all excited to see how well your cheerleader has recovered from her terrible accident!"

"And Francesco can't wait to beat McQueen again!" Francesco Bernoulli had teased.

Lightning had chuckled and rolled his eyes. "After the worst year of my life, I'm glad to see _some_ things haven't changed!"

Even better, since Lightning wanted his international racing buddies to meet his local racing buddies, Bobby and Cal were coming too! The best part of all, though, was that all of the racers had unanimously agreed to donate half the proceeds to kids recovering from accidents like Fudge's and the other half to breast cancer research. Both of those causes delighted Fudge to no end.

* * *

"And I'm going to Italy with Luigi and Guido before that", Fudge added. They were visiting their relatives as they often did.

Lightning gave her a hug. "As long as you keep getting better, it should be a great year."

"Speaking of getting better, I'm going back to the hospital soon, aren't I?"

"Yeah. Just for a check-up."

"I know. At least it's just a check-up. I'll be home soon."

"Yeah. Wow, you've really achieved your new year's resolution this year."

"I have?" Last New Year felt like such a long time ago that she couldn't even remember what her resolution was.

"Yeah, you wanted to be more positive, remember? I know this year's been hard on you and there were lots of times when you felt like giving up, but you never did. And we're all so proud of you for that."

Fudge beamed.

"And we all know I've done _mine_!" he joked.

"What was yours again?"

"I wanted to spend more time with you guys."

"Oh, yeah."

"Well, it's nearly midnight", Lightning announced, glancing at Fudge's clock to see that it read 11:52. "We should probably go over to Flo's. But first, I want you to know I am so glad you're still here and I'm _really_ sorry I caused all these problems for you."

"It's all right", Fudge assured him as he gave her a hug. Again, she didn't think it _was_ all right that it happened, but she just wished he would stop feeling so guilty.

The two were silent for a couple of minutes, hugging, before Lightning kissed her gently and repeated, "We should probably go."

"Yeah", Fudge agreed, returning the kiss.

* * *

Everyone inside the café was crowded around the TV with party blowers, waiting for midnight to come.

"There you two are!" Flo cried when Lightning and Fudge came into the café. She handed them each a drink. "We were just gonna come lookin' for you!"

"Well, we're here", Lightning pointed out.

"Here we are!" Fudge added, giggling.

"Well, here we all are", Sarge announced.

"Another year comin' to an end", Fillmore added.

"Let's hope it's a better year next year", Luigi added.

"I'm sure it will be", Ramone assured him.

"Ten!" everyone shouted abruptly. "Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

" **HAPPY NEW YEAR!** " everyone hollered in unison.

Lightning and Sally kissed. Flo and Ramone kissed. Luigi and Guido kissed Fudge. Lizzie tried to kiss RJ, but he ducked away right at the last second.

2013 was over, but 2014 looked promising for them and the townsfolk of Radiator Springs were all ready for whatever came their way.

"All right, everybody!" Flo shouted once all of the commotion had died down. "You know what to do!"

They sure did. Everyone was raising their drinks.

"To 2014!" the café owner cried.

"To 2014!" everyone else echoed, clinking their cans.

Fudge grinned along with the cars and sole human around her. "It's gonna be a great year! I can feel it!"

* * *

The first thing Fudge did when the toast was over was rush to the phone to call Sammy. Since Sammy had called her hours earlier and wished her a happy new year at London midnight, she wanted to return the favour.

As they had done the previous year, the RS gang lounged around until the early hours of the morning to discuss their resolutions and plans for the year. Again, Fillmore wanted to spread more peace and love. Luigi wanted to make sure he could balance his work life and his family life (which the others found odd because nobody had ever doubted that he could), but still take it easy after his engine attack. Lightning wanted to make sure the important people in his life knew that they were important to him.

"And _I_ ", Fudge declared, "want to live every day as if it's my last. By surviving the accident, I feel like I've been given a second chance at life and I shouldn't waste it. That's why I'm gonna live the rest of my life to the fullest with no regrets!"

Everyone smiled.

* * *

Fudge had no idea if anybody had come right out and suggested it, but the entire Radiator Springs population was gathered up at the Wheel Well to watch the sun rise.

"There's nothing like sunrise over Ornament Valley!" they often pointed out to each other and the tourists.

Nobody talked to or looked at each other for the most part. Just feeling each other's presence- and Doc's close by- was enough for them in this content moment. A challenging year had come to an end and a new year full of possibilities lay ahead. None of their lives would ever be the same after Fudge's accident, but they knew that this was the most normal things were ever going to get for them. Even though Fudge worried for Sammy's health and she feared going back to the hospital in a couple of days, she just enjoyed this moment. What a feeling it was. What a feeling, indeed.

"Are you okay, Fudgie?" Luigi broke the silence at one point.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You look like you have something on your mind." He kissed her gently. "Something you want to say."

"Yeah", she admitted. "I need to ask Lightning something."

"Sure." Lightning stroked her hair. "Anything."

Fudge looked him straight in the eye and asked him with a perfectly straight face, "What's a road lizard?"

Lightning gave her a soft smile and a chuckle as he stroked her hair, but he didn't answer.

Before long, the sun was all the way up and a matter of minutes after that, the cars and human of Radiator Springs began to drift off one by one until every last one of them was fast asleep under the early morning sun. As they all slept, every single one of them saw Doc's face smiling at them and they could hear his gravelly voice.

"You're all gonna be fine", he assured them. "Just fine."

 **The End**

 **That's a wrap! I can't believe after all this time, the story's over! I know it took a long time. Thanks for bearing with me.**

 **Just some little notes:**

 **First of all, I like how Fudge gets a cat. I** _ **love**_ **cats! As I'm sure you all know, I have a cat and she is my best friend, so I wanted Fudge to experience the same joys.**

 **I've also done some volunteer work in catteries because I want to work in one and there was a cat named Jennyfur. That name just cracked me up, so that's what I named Fudge's cat.**

 **Second of all, the "crazier than a road lizard" is something Owen Wilson says (and you may have noticed I make a lot of Owen Wilson references; he's my favourite actor for obvious reasons), I know it's OOC for Lightning, but I thought that's why it's funny! XD**

* * *

 **And now, for the Q and A!**

 **First question is from Colonel Beanbags: What do you all think about Australia?**

 **Lightning: Well, we haven't actually been there yet. That's gonna happen next year, though and we're all pretty excited. Of course, we've all seen pictures and it looks beautiful. I can't wait to see Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef.**

 **Sally: Don't forget the animals. I'm really looking forward to seeing kangaroos and koalas. They look so cute!**

 **Fudge: I'm excited for the theme parks! I've heard the Gold Coast has some really awesome theme parks.**

 **Lightning (laughing): Yep. That, too.**

 **Luigi: But, Fudgie, remember you will still be recovering.**

 **Sally: Yeah, you're gonna have to take it easy, all right, Fudge?**

 **Fudge: Yeah, I know. I'm excited for the other stuff too.**

 **Finn: You're going to love it there. Holley, Sammy and I went there for a mission last year and we had a most wonderful time. You should definitely climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge while you're there.**

 **Mater: What was the mission?**

 **Sammy: To find out why Australians eat so many weird things! Like Vegemite and fairy bread.**

 **Lightning: What's that?**

 **Sammy: Bread and butter with sprinkles on it.**

 **Fudge (grimacing):** _ **Ugh**_ **!**

 **Holley: You did like** _ **some**_ **of the food, though, Sammy.**

 **Sammy: The meat pies, the lamingtons and the TimTams were quite good, actually.**

 **Me: I hope none of my Australian readers are offended by this. Just as someone who's not from Australia, fairy bread** _ **does**_ **sound weird. (In case you didn't know, I'm originally from England, but moved to Australia when I was eight and so, I have lived in Australia for more than half my life.) And yes, Fudge. The Gold Coast is** _ **awesome**_ **! You're gonna have a blast there! I really want to go back!**

 **Colonel Beanbags has another question for Sarge and Lizzie: What are some of the most key and historical events that have ever happened that you can remember in your time?**

 **Sarge: Well, there's World War Two, obviously. And the Cold War.**

 **Me: It must've been pretty scary to live through that stuff.**

 **Sarge (scoffing): Not as scary as meeting Fillmore during the Vietnam War!**

 **Fillmore: We need more peace and love, man!**

 **Sarge: Hippie!**

 **Me: What about you, Lizzie?**

 **Lizzie: What?**

 **Me: What are some of the most key and historical events that have ever happened that you can remember in your time?**

 **Lizzie: Well, there was when Stanley founded Radiator Springs. I remember it like it was yesterday, but it was really back in-**

 **Me: Well, I'm afraid we don't have time for such a long story. What about something a little more well known?**

 **Lizzie: Well, I lived through World War One too. And the Great Depression. Then there was the same stuff as Sarge said.**

 **Now, for one from Foxy Hedgehog for Sammy: When you beat that awful cancer and start growing your hair back, will you make it rainbow-colored like it was before?**

 **Sammy: Probably. After all, I started dyeing my hair when I was fourteen, even though my teachers at school hated it. For ten years, it's become a part of what I look like and who I am. Then again, it also depends on what my hair looks like. People's hair can look different after chemotherapy. Maybe I'll like what it looks like.**

 **Foxy Hedgehog has a question for Finn too: I know you're a handsome hard working spy but do you have feelings for anyone in particular?**

 **Finn: Well, I have been involved in relationships in the past, but none of them have ever been serious.**

 **Holley: He's married to his job!**

 **Finn: Is that such a terrible thing? I believe our work is important!**

 **Sammy: We all still need love, Finny boy.**

 **Fillmore: She's right, man!**

 **Sarge: Shut up, hippie.**

 **Finn: I** _ **do**_ **feel loved by those close to me. Even though I was an orphan, I consider my fellow agents and the residents of Radiator Springs my family. They love me and I know I love them-**

 **Sammy: You old softie!**

 **Finn: As far as romantic love goes, I'm not opposed to starting anything up if the opportunity were to arise.**

 **Mater: What happened to relationships bein' dangerous?**

 **Finn: If it's with the right lady, I'm willing to take a chance.**

 **Oh! Here's a question for me** _ **and**_ **Fudge, too: I'm asking this on behalf of some fans I know: Do you like Thomas and Friends at all? (the series and movies, both model and CGI)**

 **Me: God, I haven't seen Thomas in** _ **years**_ **! I liked it when I was a little kid, but I guess I outgrew it. I have no idea what I'd think if I saw it again now, though.**

 **Fudge: Same for me. Trains are pretty cool, I guess, but I've always been a big fan of cars... for obvious reasons.**

 **Another question for (OC) Fudge: As a BIG fan of racing, I wonder... is there any kind of racing anime that you like? (do you even like anime?)**

 **Fudge: I haven't seen any anime. Actually, that's a lie. I watched some once when we were in Japan for the World Grand Prix, but it was all in Japanese, so I didn't understand a single word of it. I'm not sure anime is really my thing, though.**

 ** _Another_ question for (OC) Fudge: Who is your favourite NASCAR Driver?**

 **Fudge: Well, that depends on if we're talking about your world where the cars aren't alive-**

 **Lightning: Yeah, what's up with that?! That's just creepy!**

 **Fudge: -or our world with living cars. If it's the latter, then I like the obvious Lightning McQueen, Fabulous Hudson Hornet, Junior Moon, Louise Nash and River Scott. Those old school legends. I don't know much about NASCAR in your world, though, and I don't know any current drivers. However, I do think Jeff Gordon seems pretty cool.**

 **Lightning: Who?**

 **Fudge: He's the human version of Jeff Gorvette.**

 **Jeff Gorvette: Wait. What?**

 **Now, we have some questions from Emily: Does Fudge like the** _ **Incredibles**_ **series? (Cause I do!)**

 **Fudge: Series? Is there a second** _ **Incredibles**_ **movie?**

 **Me: It comes out in 2018. We're a little ahead of you guys at this point.**

 **Fudge: Oh. Well, I definitely liked the first one. It's one of my favourite Pixar movies along with _WALL-E_. Even if I didn't, it would be worth watching the whole thing just for the "Where's my super suit?" part.**

 **Me (laughing): Yeah. That was a good part! Next question: How old was Sammy when she first joined C.H.R.O.M.E.?**

 **Sammy: I was nineteen when I joined CHROME. I met my mentor, Rod Redline, when I was in college in Michigan.**

 **Would you (real Fudge) love to be a racer in real life?**

 **Me: I've never really thought about it. I think it would be cool to go that fast, but I know nothing about real cars like Fudge does.**

 **Fudge (embarrassed): I don't know** _ **that**_ **much...**

 **Lightning: You do. You could make a great rider one day.**

 **Me: That's one of the differences between Fudge and me. Even though she's a self-insert, we've had different lives, so some things are going to be different. Plus, she's more awesome! Anyway, I've gotten off topic. The other thing is I'm easily distracted, so I've always been too afraid to even learn how to drive.**

 **Will Sammy and RJ ever get to see their dad again, and will Fudge ever get to meet him?**

 **Sammy (eyeing me): That's an interesting question...**

 **RJ (also eyeing me): Yeah, what's up with that?**

 **Me (defensively): I don't think you can get mad at me. You three have had good lives and loving families in Radiator Springs/Thomasville, haven't you?**

 **Sammy, RJ and Fudge: I guess...**

 **Me: That said, I'm not opposed to it happening. If it's meant to be, it'll be.**

 **Sarge (groaning): You're starting to sound like Fillmore!**

 **Fillmore: 'Cause it's true, man!**

 **Anyway, how old were you (real Fudge) when you started liking the Cars movies?**

 **Me: Well, I loved the first one when it first came out when I was six. Then I guess I moved onto another movie; I don't know what, though (I went through a lot of obsessions back then). I came back to love** _ **Cars**_ **when** _ **Cars 2**_ **came out when I was eleven. I loved it and enjoyed rewatching the first one after so many years. In fact, I even forgot about Frank until I watched it again! I'm glad I got back into it because high school was tough. I didn't really feel like I had any friends because all of my friends (including my** _ **best**_ **friend, with whom I was friends for about seven years) ditched me to make new friends and I got cast aside. Then I moved schools, so I was really on my own (thank God I made a true friend after a while!). So, the** _ **Cars**_ **movies made me feel like I still had friends. Then the third one came out in my last year of high school and I can really relate to Cruz, so I loved that. (I still do. I don't have the confidence to pursue any career.)**

 **Everyone: Who's Cruz?**

 **Me: You know her! She showed up to the Fudge Rossi-Topolino Birthday Bonanza. She shows up more in the next instalment.**

 **And a question for Lightning from Pixar Katze: where is his family now and will they make any appearances in future chapters/stories?**

 **Lightning: Well, my mom and dad are still in Texas, which is where I grew up. That is, when they're not on business trips. They probably won't stop working till the day they die. We've never been very close 'cause we'd always be doing our own thing, but I tend to call them for holidays and their birthdays. They don't always answer, though. And I was an only child, so I spent more time with my friends than my parents growing up. So, I guess you could say my real family is in Radiator Springs.**

 **As for will they appear in future stories? Well, that's up to Fabulous Cars Crazy Fudge.**

 **Me: If I get the inspiration, it's definitely something I'll consider.**

 **Finally, a question from S.V: Luigi do you seriously want to hold a grudge against McQueen for the rest of your life? If you do, what will happen is that you will become bitter and hateful and will take your anger out on everyone even Fudge, do you really want that to happen?**

 **Luigi (embarrassed): I do feel ashamed of myself for how hard I was on McQueen.**

 **Lightning: It's okay, Luigi. I get it. You're just a very loving, protective father.**

 **Luigi: And I am not going to apologise for that, but I will apologise for how hard I was on you. Like I said, I was just very upset about Fudge's accident and I just felt like I needed someone to blame. So, I blamed you.**

 **Me (reading through the reviews on my laptop): It seems as though a lot of the readers weren't happy with the way you acted either. One of my reviewers, hannymae, even said something about hurling a canned coffee at you.**

 **Luigi:** _ **What**_ **?!**

 **Lightning: Why a canned coffee?**

 **Me: "Because it's dark and bitter and contained into a can the size of the average human heart." That's what it says here. Maybe you should be hit with a canned coffee for how you treated Lightning.**

 **Luigi: Please no!**

 **Me: All right. We won't. I know you've felt badly about it. Well, that's it for the interview. Thank you so much to everyone who asked questions.**

* * *

 **Now that the Q and A's over, I want to thank and dedicate this story to each and every one of my awesome readers and reviewers, especially (in no particular order) Colonel Beanbags, hannymae, Pixar Katze, S.V., Emily and Foxy Hedgehog. You guys are awesome and I can't put into words how happy your reviews make me. Thanks to all of you,** _ **Ride**_ **has officially become my most reviewed story and that's amazing! So, again, I say thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!**

 **Finally, now that this story is done, I'll be returning to** _ **Driven to Win**_ **. I'll give it a couple of days, though. That way, those who haven't read that story yet have a chance to catch up or those who** _ **have**_ **read it, but want to read it again can do that. Don't worry.** _ **Driven to Win**_ **does have its sad moments, but nothing as bad as this story. So, I hope you all enjoy that as well.**

 **So, for the last time for this story, I am asking you to please review.**


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